Bright Eyes
by PowerHero432
Summary: Dylan Reyes – older sister to Erica – has had the same crappy depressing life as her sister. Until she's offered the bite by Derek Hale. Gaining power, respect, looks and more, Dylan thinks it's all great. Until she realises what she and her sister have been sucked into – the Supernatural world of Beacon Hills. (Light Sterica)
1. Dylan

_**(Warning! Please be advised, mentions of extreme bullying and suicide! If this is not for you then please skip to the next chapter)**_

* * *

I know no one likes public speaking, but try doing it with a stutter. It's a nightmare come alive. Being forced to stand up before the whole class. To talk as if you're a car slowly crawling along the street at one mile an hour, with your insides constantly threatening to explode and unleash the vomit from inside from sheer embarrassment. From the students staring at me, I hear muttered nicknames and insults. Encouraging me to fail with such classics as, "Hurry up, Dildo." "While we're young." "You think she's crapped herself yet?"

If my body wasn't so tense, I very well might have. Instead I was stood with trembling knees at the front of the class, clinging to my crumpled-up papers like a life preserver. God how I wished the teacher would just let me sit down. Couldn't he see how much I was suffering, how petrified I was, so much so I couldn't even get out the first word. I'd tried to explain to the old bastard multiple times that I couldn't do public speaking, but he wouldn't have it. He just kept insisting that it was a necessary part of life and that it was better to get used to it now, along with my peers. But my peers hated me. My peers were the ones that named me 'Dildo Dylan' after I spent a whole two minutes trying to get my name out once. God how I hated them all.

I didn't even have one single friend. The only time anyone even bothered to look my way was when they were insulting me or when I was making a fool of myself in front of the class for the whole world to see. The only person I had was my sister, Erica. She had just as much problems as me though. She suffered from epileptic fits and constantly refused to take her meds, no matter how many times me and our parents tried to tell her it was for her own good. She hated them, because they made her fat. At least she had a medicine, something to keep the symptoms at bay. I was forever doomed to be stuck with my stutter.

My parents had paid a lot of money originally to speech therapists when it became clear I had a problem, but nothing they did ever worked. None of the exercises, none of the sessions. It had all been for nothing. And I'd gone through my entire school career being teased for it, just as Erica had for her epilepsy.

I sometimes wished we'd been born boys. Boys could fight in high school, and then I would have been able to defend Erica. But as a girl, fighting was frowned upon by everyone, even if they didn't say it. Girls were smarter anyway, using their words and minds to hurt you rather than their fists. But I wasn't as smart as the girls like Lydia Martin, able to twist her words as good as any knife in my chest. It was her kind that had made me come close to ending it all at one point. I hadn't though. I couldn't leave Erica alone. All we had was each other.

We did everything together. Helped each other with homework, fantasied over our ideal crushes. Talked about how one day things would be better, how we'd be magically cured, and everything would change. We'd become powerful, respected and would get vengeance on everyone that wronged us. Life had taken so much from us, breaking us down piece by piece before we'd even had a chance to grow. We deserved a chance. And I'd vowed so many times if I ever got it, I'd take it. Take it along with Erica and change our lives for ever. Sadly, I knew it was a pipe dream.

We lived in the real world. Dreams didn't come true. It wasn't like one of her favourite fantasy books, were one moment could change everything. Or when the girl woke up to discover she was actually a princess all along. The real world sucked; the real world was what every other magical world would refer to as hell. I hated it, I hated everything about it with the exception of my sister. There was nothing for me and when I wasn't with Erica I felt so alone. I sometimes wondered how I made it a whole year without her in my life, without that cute little timid smile to get me through the day. I could really use that smile right about now.

After ten minutes of stumbling over my words like an idiot, being brought to tears as I whimpered on – then being told to speak up because no one, including the teacher, could hear me – I finally finished. I was permitted to sit down with my final grad being an F just because I couldn't tell the class why I deserved better. I didn't care. I ran back to my seat, unfortunately placed in the middle of the room. I shielded myself from my peers, lowering my head to the table before covering it with my arms, doing my best to block out the snickering and teasing taunts that came from all around. I barely held it together until the end of class when I then bolted for the bathroom, locking myself in a cubical and letting it out. No matter how many times I wiped away the tears they just kept coming.

Every few minutes someone would walk in and I'd have to keep it down, quietly whimpering as tears continued to flow out until they left. Then it was back to crying by myself. I could have texted Erica for comfort, asked her to keep me company, but I didn't like her seeing me like this. I was her rock in many ways, and I couldn't afford to cry in front of her more than I already did.

When I finally finished crying and got the strength to leave the restroom, it was last period and I'd missed all of lunch. I couldn't have cared less. It wasn't as if the crappy school food would have helped me in anyway, just add to the weight I was slowly starting to put on. I'd always meant to burn it off at the gym but that would mean leaving my house. The only time I ever did that was to go to school or if my parents were dragging me and Erica out somewhere.

I arrived at the classroom and the teacher handed me a slip of paper for being later, a warning I'd received a hundred times before. Even the teachers barely remembered my name. I sat down quietly, the usual murmurs passing through the class like a gentle wave moving up the beach. It was a dull class, so much so I didn't even bother to take out my books. And then the class was over. The bell rang, and I left, picking up the pace when I heard a group of the popular crowd calling taunts after me. I tightened my hold on my bag strap, fingers digging into my palm like claws. It got so bad I actually thought I felt blood dripping from my hand at one point – it turned out it was only sweat.

When I got outside, I unlocked the car and got in, slamming the door as to keep up my anger. Better angry than sad. I waited a few minutes until Erica finally joined me, dressed in day old cloths she hadn't bothered to throw out with her wiry hair tied back in a ponytail. I would never judge her though – I saw the beautiful girl beneath all that. The sweet little sister I'd always had and loved. Not that my outside was any better either. My slightly darker blonde hair was straight and greasy looking, which matched my thick eyebrows, and my blue eyes which had lost their shine long ago, now pale and cold after all the heart-breaking years. And as for my freckles, they looked more like dried up spots that clung to my face. Basically, we looked like we never showered – another thing we were both constantly teased about.

"H-How y-y-you do-doin-doing?" I asked Erica with a brave smile, the same way I always did. The way a big sister should. I could never understand all these dramas in books and TV series that had sisters arguing over such trivial things. Then again, those sisters had other reasons to go on. All me and Erica had was each other.

"Okay, I guess," Erica replied with the usual dismissive, and quiet, shrug. I knew it was her way of getting over whatever had happened to her that day. People said talking about it made you feel better, that didn't work for Erica or me. We only talked about the bullying months later, during our holidays so that it didn't stay bottled up inside. It wasn't like we could do anything about it anyway. When the entire student body are the ones bullying you and ignoring you what are the school supposed to do about it?

I gave my sister another soft smile before starting up the car and driving us home. That night we did what we always did. We did our homework, we ate our dinner, went into the second living room to watch a movie on our own and then went to bed. A rut we'd both fallen into. But with no social life, what else was there to do. Mom was constantly having goes at us about it, saying we should get out more. Easy for her to say, she was full of confidence, a trait that had sadly skipped both me and Erica. Dad was fine with us no matter what. He was too busy working to notice us unless we kicked up a fuss like we did when we were younger. When we reached high school, the time for tantrums ended and we were expected deal with our problems on our own. So, we did. We hid from them as much as we could before heading back into the hell that was school.

And that's my life in the short, an up to date version. I went through the daily routine of high school with not so sly comments being made about me every few minutes. I looked out for Erica as best I could and comforted her when she needed it afterwards. I put up with my nagging parents and then went back to repeating the process all over again. And every night I went to bed praying it would get better, and every morning my hope died a little more. I wasn't sure how much longer I could last, but I had to keep going for Erica if nothing else. God knew I wasn't doing it for me.

"Ni-Nig-Night, Er-Eri-Erica," I said as I opened the door of our shared bathroom into her room, popping my head through with a tired smile.

"Night, Dylan," she replied from beneath her bed sheets, her night light the only thing still on. I waved goodnight and then closed the door behind me, hearing the light click off as I walked into my own room. A few minutes later, I was dressed in my pjs and ready for bed. I climbed in and shut off the lights, too tired to read that night.

Me and Erica had stayed up late to watch the last part of the Lord of the Rings movies, a series we hadn't watched in a few years. It had brought back some nice memories of better times, before they reached the cruel world that was high school.

I let out a yawn and let my head rest against the soft pillow, curling up like I always did, keeping warm under the sheets. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, knowing it would be gone by the time I woke up and had to relive a similar day all over again.


	2. Sweet Dreams

Another day of school came and went. I only broke down once, so I was taking that as a positive, and Erica had seemed in a good enough mood. I'd found out why on the way over to school that morning. She'd had a dream about Stiles, her high school crush. It was sweet but at the same time sad, because in the entire time she'd known him he'd never once given her a second glance. His eyes were always on that Lydia Martin, not that she seemed to care, she was always pinning after Jackson, who seemed to be going after Allison Argent. See, being invisible has its benefits. I knew everything that was going on, I just had no one to share it with. That's how I got the gossip, over hearing bits and bobs here and there. It was the closest thing I had to a social life in this place.

After the last class I got a text from Erica, saying she was going to walk home. I offered to wait but she said it was fine. I knew where she was, at lacrosse practice watching Stiles from a far. Maybe today would be the day. The day she finally got over her confidence issues and went up to him and confessed her feelings. I knew better but I liked to hope. There was about as much chance of that happening as there was of me sprouting wings and flying away from this life and to a better one. I'd settle just for getting over the same confidence issues as my sister.

With little else to do I started up the car and went for a drive around Beacon Hills. My only other option was to go home and listen to Mom lecture me about how I should be out like Erica. She probably wouldn't say that if she knew where Erica was, but I wasn't about to rat her out. So, I drove around, did so for about an hour before I got hungry. I rested one had on my stomach, rubbing it until the grumbling stopped. I went on for another few minutes before spotting a fast food joint with a drive through. Normally I wouldn't, I tended to only go to these kinds of places as a treat, once a month with Erica, usually when we'd had a really bad day. But I was in the mood and hungry, so I drove up, ordered a strawberry milkshake to go, a cheese burger, small fries, and then stopped by the take-out window. I paid with a shy smile to the cute boy at the window and then drove on into the parking lot. I didn't like eating alone in public, it made me feel more alone than usual so I remained in the car and unwrapped my burger.

I took a few bites, mixing it with an occasional sip of my milkshake. Once my stomach was tamed, I leaned back and relaxed, burger in one hand and milkshake in the other. I turned on the radio, flicking through the stations until some country song I liked came on. I smiled to myself, letting the song take me away as I finished off the burger. It was a love song, and I always pretended these songs were about me. Imagining some handsome, young, fit man with a cowboy hat, strumming a guitar and singing to me. I sighed in satisfaction, dipping a fry in what was left of my milkshake before eating it, humming in delight.

Letting my fantasies take hold, I drifted off to a farmyard house, sat on a porch in an old fashion rocking chair. Opposite me, leaning against the porch banister, was the handsome guitarist. Strumming away peacefully with a charming country smile. I smiled back, letting my heart warm up as I rocked back and forth to the smooth relaxing beat of his guitar. He sang, and I hummed along as best as I could. In the distance, the sun was starting to set, casting an orange glare across the sky. It was beautiful.

Then the song drew to a close and I was pulled from my fantasy and back into my car. I was alone and in darkness, with nothing but a drained milkshake and half a box of fries. I felt it was a good enough metaphor for my life. With a depressed sigh I finished of my fries, throwing the wrapper for my burger into the box before placing it on the dashboard. I went to grab my milkshake and was about to sip when I paused. Across the parking lot from me, leaning against the hood of a sleek black Camaro, was a handsome man. His cheeks were rough with stubble that covered not only his cheeks, but his chin and neck too. He had short black hair that was lifted straight up in a stylish bad boy look. And friendly meadow green eyes that were staring right at me.

Instinctively I smiled. Knowing I had a cringey smile I expected him to turn away just at the sight of it. But he didn't. He continued to smile back softly. For a minute at least, we just stared at each other. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my mind ignoring everything logical about the situation. He had to have a girlfriend, had too. No guy like him would be friendly to me and not have a girlfriend already.

He tilted his head back, indicating for me to come over to him. Maybe he was going to kidnap me. Oddly enough that didn't sound like such a bad idea. I wasn't thinking straight, I knew it, I was letting my fantasies over take my common sense. Yet I still unlocked the car door and stepped out. Taking my milkshake with me, I walked across the dimly lit parking lot towards the stranger. The look on his face never faded even when I stepped into the light hanging over his car, giving him a good look at my grease layered skin. Still he smiled with nothing but a friendly greeting in his eyes.

"H-H-H-H-Hi," I said nervously.

"Hi," the man said confidently back, not even swayed by my stutter. A first. If someone didn't know about stutter and I started speaking, then they normally gave me strange looks. It was one of the worst feelings, knowing that the second I opened my mouth I was going to be losing their respect in some way, always looking like an idiot. But this man didn't make me feel that way.

Even so, I stumbled – my words caught in my mouth. I couldn't understand why he was still even talking to me. Why hadn't I scared him off the way I normally did with my unsocial looks and awkward stutter. "Wh-Wh-Wh-Why are y-y-you st-star-staring at m-me?" I finally got out as I wrapped my arms around my chest for self-comfort. I'd gotten used to my own hugs, I rarely got them from anyone else.

"I've met people like you before. I've been friends with people like you," the stranger began, a knowing smirk on his lips as his green eyes remained on my blue. "You have nothing to live for, no reason to go on. You don't care about anything." Not completely true, I cared about my sister. "Except your sister." I jumped slightly, scared by how he knew exactly what I was thinking. And yet, I couldn't leave, his voice had me entranced and I wanted to know what he was after. I needed to know.

"I want to make you an offer. I want to help."

"H-H-Ho-How?" I asked, voice trembling more than usual, anticipation building inside me as I felt a giddy smile form on my lips. Somehow, I just knew he meant it; he really could help. He could make things better for me, make life feel worth living again.

Suddenly those meadow green eyes of his began to glow an almost scarlet red. Then they darkened into a colder red, a powerful red. I could see the power, feel it radiating from his very being. I wanted power like that, wanted to feel strong and know that no matter what I could never be hurt again.

"Power. I can give it to you," he said as the red glow faded from his eye. "I can make you feel like you've never felt before. I can make sure people respect you. I can bring out the real you, the you you've always wanted to be." It was too tempting to pass up. After everything I'd been feeling the past few days there was no way I was missing out on this.

"Wh-Wha-What do I-I-I h-h-ha-have to-to-to do?" I asked.

"Just one thing. You have to let me bite you." Despite how crazy it sounded I still leapt at the opportunity, ready to shout 'yes' before he could take this away from me. But he held up a hand, sensing my eagerness and motioned me to wait. "There are a few things I should tell you about first though." He gestured to the spot on the hood of his car next to him. "Sit. It could take a while." I quickly moved next to him, leaning back against the car hood as we talked.

He told me everything. That his name was Derek. That he was in fact a Werewolf, an Alpha. That meant he had the power to turn anyone into a Werewolf with just a single bite. There was a risk though, I could die from the process. He did however point out that there was a higher rate of survival among teenagers, so at least I had that going for me. About time some form of luck came my way. That wasn't all though.

Even if I did survive the process things would still be challenging. I'd be a slave to the full moon, forced to lose control until Derek could teach me how to control myself while under its effects. And when the moon wasn't out to get me, Hunters would be. The Argents to be precise. I knew Allison seemed way to nice for someone that hanged around the popular crowd. Now I knew her deep dark secret. He also told me about the lacrosse star, Scott, and how he credited all his success to the bite that the previous Alpha had given him.

"It's a gift," Derek explained with his arms crossed as he eyed me carefully. "But it won't fix everything. Just give you what you need to make those changes for yourself. It's up to you to take what you want once you have it."

"Does…Does th-tha-that me-me-mean y-y-you're going-going to give-giv-give it to-to-to-to me?" I asked hopefully, my voice quiet.

He smiled. "If you still want it."

I looked away from him, across and over to my car. I thought back to all the nights I fantasised about something like this. An offer I swore I'd never turn down. And here it was, finally, at my fingertips. All I had to do was say, 'yes,' and I'd get the power I'd always wanted. I'd be free from my past and able to take whatever future I wanted. There was just one thing holding me back. It wasn't the possibility of death. Death never happened to the person who died anyway, it happened to those they left behind. In my case, that would be…Erica.

Could I risk it? I could gain everything I ever wanted, but I'd be risking leaving her alone, forever. _She was my sister._

I turned back to Derek. "I want it," I said firmly and for once my stutter didn't hold me back. He smiled fondly. "B-B-Bu-But I ne-need you to pro-prom-promise me some-something." His smile shrunk a little, but he listened all the same, making no sign of agreement until he heard what I wanted. "If…If the b-bi-bite does-does-doesn't t-t-take. I-I-I ne-need you t-t-to make the s-same off-offer to my-my sis-sister. I-I-I-I can't leav-leave her with noth-nothing."

"What if she doesn't want it?" he asked curiously. I knew she would take it. She'd want it just as badly as I did. I was planning on asking him to bite her too, but I wouldn't chance my arm until I had the bite myself. I couldn't risk him running off and leaving us both with nothing.

"The-Then wat-watch her…pl-pl-plea-please," I begged, holding my gaze with him, showing him that I needed him to agree to this if I was going to take him up on his offer. I don't know why I thought it was going to work, I just had a feeling. That he wanted me to take the bite, that he needed others like him and Scott.

He then nodded his head and my heart lit up along with my face for the first time in years. "All right," he agreed. "I promise that if the bite doesn't work then I'll look out for Erica."

"Th-Thank you," I said quietly as to keep my stutter to a minimum.

"Are you ready?" Derek asked, moving onto the point as he pushed off the car, dropping his arms to his side as he fixed me with a serious look. I nodded a little frantically and stood up straight, shorter than him by quite a bit. "Where do you want it?" he asked casually. An awkward question and yet it had no awkwardness to it, but it didn't sound quite natural either. I also, wasn't entirely sure about the question. It wasn't exactly something I normally thought about. _Where would I like to be bitten?_

I quickly decided though, not wanting him to get inpatient. I rolled up the left sleeve of my jacket. I was right handed so I figured if I was going to get bit, I'd rather it be on my non-dominate arm. Then I held out my arm, bare pale skin ready for the bite, hand tightly clenched as to fight the pain that was to come.

Derek lightly took my fist with his own, holding my arm still as his eyes turned to red orbs once more. Only this time, there were canines in his mouth as well. He gave me one last look, waiting to see if I wanted to back out. I didn't budge. His mouth then descended onto my arm, his teeth sinking into my weak skin. I cringed in pain and my face contorted and just like that, it was over. I had the bite.

The smile on my lips was uncontainable as I looked at the bite mark on my arm. It tingled a little but otherwise there was hardly any after pain. I ran my hand gently along the wound, blood still seeping out. A few pinches of pain but otherwise I couldn't stop smiling. I looked up at the Alpha, still smiling and he grinned back.

"Sweet dreams, Dylan," Derek said as he turned, walking around his car and entering the driver's side. I moved back over to my own car, watching as he drove off. Once he was gone, I looked back down at my arm, looking at the glorious bite once more, before rolling my sleeve down. I headed for home and found Erica had beat me there. I rambled off some excuse about engine problems that I eventually fixed on my own. Dad was proud about that and mom was just happy I spent some time outside of the house. Erica gave me a suspicious look sensing something was wrong. I didn't give her the chance to ask me and quickly claimed I was tired and headed up to my room, closing the door behind me.

Erica didn't bother me the rest of the night. I heard her go to her room and go to sleep, briefly wondering if it was my new supernatural hearing kicking in. I was getting ahead of myself and I knew it. Derek had told me that it wouldn't be until the bite healed that I started to experience my new Werewolf powers. But I was just too excited.

I got changed into my pjs and then ran my hand over my bite once more. The blood had stopped, and it was already healing over. It had to be a good sign. It had worked, I knew it had. And tomorrow I would wake up a new person. A stronger, more powerful person that would grab the world by the balls and make it knee before her. Things were going to be different from now on.


	3. Changed Woman

I awoke refreshed and energised, my eyes shooting open as I grinned up at the celling. I'd dreamed about what I might become last night. Imagined myself as a wolf, running through the forest, a blonde wolf as fast as anything I'd ever seen and as strong as any man. It had been a rush of power, power I still felt lingering inside of me, even as I woke. It had to be a sign. A sign that the bite had taken, that I was going to turn into a Werewolf.

Throwing off the sheets, unable to contain myself or my giddy smile, I dashed towards my cupboard. I pulled open the door and looked at my reflection.

It was the same. Same as it'd been before I went to bed. Then my eyes moved, and I saw it wasn't the same. The bite mark had healed completely. I was still alive, but I didn't look different. Didn't feel that different either. A sudden panic rushed through me, fearing it had failed and that I was going to be left with nothing, that I'd be stuck as my old self. Then the words echoed through my head, the ones Derek had said last night.

_"It won't fix everything. Just give you what you need to make those changes for yourself. It's up to you to take what you want once you have it."_

The bite had taken, I knew it. I'd be dead otherwise. Now it was down to me to make sure the change continued. This was my one chance to change myself for the better. The bite had fuelled me with confidence, I just had to use it. With a hopeful blaze in my eyes I strode over to the bathroom. I quickly checked on Erica, seeing she was still asleep. I must have woken up early. I smiled at her. Things were about to change for us both. Closing the door, I locked Erica's end before getting to work.

I opened up the mirror, revealing the cabinet behind it. All kinds of beauty products lined the shelves, all of which my mother had gifted me and Erica over the years with. We'd experiment on each other but never found something we felt confirmable in. But from now on, I would be comfortable in anything.

Grabbing the bathing products from the shelves, I opened them up before placing them in the shower. After that I stripped, discarding my pjs like a snake's old skin. Once I turned the shower, and made sure it was warm enough, I climbed in to wash myself. I did everything I could think to do, giving myself a thorough cleaning, wiping any undesired grease from my body. I rinsed, cleaning my dirty blonde hair until it seemed almost pure blonde and then stepped out.

As I exited, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I felt almost…sexy. A word I'd never once used to describe myself. But dressed only in a bathrobe with my damp hair dangling down, unleashing droplets of water upon my skin.

My clean skin that looked as fresh as a newly born baby's. I looked good. Even my eyes had returned to a brighter shade of blue. My cold heart finally warmed again.

Then I set to work on my make-up. It was a daunting task, but I think I did well. I applied enough to make my freckles blend with my skin, rather than stand out, using a pale lipstick to make my lips more bold and noticeable with a hint of eyeliner and blush to finish it off. Then there was my hair.

For that I had to go through to mom's bathroom, borrowing her curling iron. I vaguely remembered how to use it and while it heated up, I dried my hair until it looked like it always did, just lighter in colour. Purer as some might say. The iron was ready soon enough and I set to work, burning myself on the first attempt. I was just able to hold back the scream of pain, clenching my fist as I looked at the pussy mark on my wrist. But then it began to fade into my skin, returning to normal. And in less than a minute it was completely healed. That was it, conformation the bite had worked. I had the healing powers of a Werewolf. I looked up, staring at my reflection, watching as my eyes began to glow a soft amber colour. Growing brighter and stronger. I was a Werewolf.

Even when the glow faded from my eyes, I couldn't stop smiling. Finally, I had what I always wanted. Power. I continued on getting ready, burning myself a few more times only to have it heal again. Each time I marvelled at my new healing ability and watched the glow come and go from my eyes. It was a rush, an incredible rush that only I could experience, and no one could take it away from me now that I had it.

I finished with curling iron, then stared in awe at my gorgeous new form. Another word I'd never used to describe myself popped into my head. Hot. I was hot. For the first time in my life I felt it, and I revealed in the feeling.

Leaving my towel to dry, I unlocked Erica's door so she could now use the bathroom and returned to my own room. Now for the next part of my makeover, the cloths.

I could have gone with some sexy little dress, knowing I had the body to pull it off now and the looks to back it up. But that wasn't me. I didn't do pretty white dresses or slutty little things that showed off as much skin as possible. At least not yet anyway. No, instead I went with something I'd always wanted to wear. A leather jacket I'd gotten for my birthday last year, but I'd never had the confidence to wear it. Now I did. With it I threw on a dark grey crop top underneath and wore a tight pair of jeans that highlighted my legs. I didn't have a lot of shoe options though. I stuck to sneakers mostly. I'd need to expand my wardrobe for sure. Good thing I'd saved up plenty of money from the odd jobs I'd gotten over the summer. But for today a pair of sneakers would do.

At least until I pulled them out and saw a show box buried in the back. I fished it out and opened it up, knelt on the ground. Inside was a pair of high boots that reached up past my ankle and halfway up to my knee. I'd completely forgotten about these. They'd been a gift from my mom, saying I should wear them when I was ready to, 'assert my dominance on the world,' because she knew I could. I just had to go and get it. And now I was ready.

I pulled on the boots and laced them up, looking over myself in the mirror. _God, I looked good,_ I though as I smiled at my reflection. A sexy smile I'd mastered just like that, biting my lower lip ever so slightly.

The school wasn't going to know what hit it.

It had taken me longer than I thought it would to get ready, I'd missed breakfast and it was almost time for school. I went to grab my bag – my old rotten bag – then stopped. I couldn't use that bag now, it was beneath me. I left without it, deciding I could go one day without my bag. If Derek was right about the bite, I now had all I needed to survive.

"Morning," I said confidently as I walked into the kitchen. All eyes shot up and landed on me before three jaws then dropped. I soaked up their looks and smiled ambitiously back at them before opening up the fridge and grabbing the apple juice. "Pass me a glass please, Erica," I said causally as if nothing had changed. I arrived at the kitchen table and she hadn't moved an inch. I put down the juice, rolling my eyes dramatically. "Fine, I'll get it myself," I teased with a grin.

"Sorry," I heard Erica's amazed murmur as I got my own glass. When I turned back around I gave her a friendly smile, letting her know it was fine and that I was just having a bit of fun. She sighed out a laugh, still in shock at my new look. They all were, but Erica was the first to smile at me. That timid little smile that I loved.

"New look, Honey?" my mother asked as I sat down opposite Erica, pouring the apple juice into my glass. I nodded, humming along as I sipped my juice, keeping my eyes on Erica's as she stared back at me. She liked what she was seeing. Good. Because soon she'd have the same power I now had running through my veins. I would make Derek offer her the same bite, beg him if I had to. Do it myself if I could find a way.

"Is that a new jacket?" my father asked. That was about as personal as his questions got. I loved him like any daughter would a father but he was always so work driven and he tended to be a little self-centred. But at least he wasn't completely ignorant.

I hummed a response again before setting aside my apple juice and smiling at Erica. I took her hand, standing up and pulling her with me. "Come on. We're going to be late," I said as I took Erica from the room. My parents called goodbyes after us, as me and Erica got into the car. I went to start the engine but found Erica was still staring at me. "Is everything all right?" I asked as I leaned back, looking back at her.

"It's just…" Erica said in amazement before getting a grip of herself. "What happened to you?"

"I don't know. I just woke up this morning and thought what the hell." I turned back to the driveway, staring out in thought for a moment before turning back to Erica with a grin. "You know what. I can't be bothered with school."

"What?" Erica gasped.

"Let's just drive around, spend some quality sister time together. Or better yet a sister day? We can do whatever you want, go anywhere, your choice," I said eagerly with a smile to Erica, who continued to stare back at me in amused shock.

"I want to go to school," Erica said with a laugh, still staring at me with that same look.

"Come on. Anywhere, just name it," I pushed.

"The school," Erica repeated, though was still smiling.

"Fine. I guess we can go there," I sighed as I started the engine.

"You haven't noticed have you?" Erica said with a knowing, rare, grin.

"Noticed what?" I asked with a frown.

"You stutter. It's gone." I smiled suddenly, realising she was right. One of my biggest obstacles in life and it was gone just like that. And it was all thanks to Derek. He truly had given me a gift. I drove off down the street, both me and Erica smiling as we went. Our new lives had just begun.


	4. Drooling Boys

Arriving at school, Erica hoped out and made her way in like she had every other day. Me, I decided I wanted to make a dramatic entrance, to go with my new look. I waited until most of the outside drifters made their way inside, and then I got out. On my way to the front door alone, I was turning heads. Making the loner boys outside gasp at my presence as I shot them a wink before heading inside. With just a hint of my new strength I threw open the doors to the school with a _bang_ as they hit of the walls. Everyone stopped what they were doing – whether it was walking by or talking with their friends. Everyone just stopped and turned before the boys' jaws dropped along with half the girls while the rest shot me the stink eye.

There it was, that rush of power. Feeling unbeatable and perfect. I smiled out at them all, soaking up their looks before shrugging them all off as if they were beneath me. I started to walk through the school, sending smiles and winks as I went. I managed to shake the feathers of a few girlfriends, making their boyfriends drool over me as I went by. I'd dreamed of being one of those girls. The ones with the jaw dropping looks that could have any boy they wanted, and now I finally was. Any boy in the whole school would be lucky to have me now, they'd be grovelling to get a chance with me.

I rounded a corner about to head to class when I spotted Scott and Allison by a row of lockers. Smiling at each other dreamily as they both laughed at something that had been said. I supposed I should introduce myself to him, being a new Werewolf and all. And if he was in Derek's Pack as well, then that made us family – in Werewolf terms I guessed. Though it seemed I wouldn't have to make the introductions as Scott spotted me before I could start moving. He looked at me, still smiling and then began to frown a little. Allison followed his line of sight to me, looking confused herself.

"Who's that?" Allison asked, hugging Scott's chest as she did, her arms wrapped around him while his own rested on the small of her back.

"I…don't know," Scott said slowly, his eyes remaining on me. I could see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure it out. I knew because it was the same feeling I was having. How I knew him, but I didn't. His smell, which I could sense from down the corridor, was warm and comforting…almost friendly. He'd be smelling the same thing off me but couldn't work out why. I knew why, because we were both Werewolves.

I raised my hand, flirtatiously waving at him with a smirk to back it up. I saw hurt confusion flash through Allison's eyes and my smirk turned to a smug smile. She was the enemy as Derek had told me, plus she'd been miss popular from the moment she arrived. As far as I was concerned she deserved to feel that way. I'd felt that way my whole life, at least until I got the bite. And with that I turned on my heels and headed the other way, my smile unwavering as I walked off.

"What was that about?" Allison asked, and I stopped, surprised I could still hear her.

"I'm not sure…but I felt like…I knew her," Scott admitted, confusion in his voice. I looked back over my shoulder seeing the two love birds frowning at one another. When they turned to look back at me I turned away swiftly and continued on as if I'd never stopped. Another of my werewolf powers kicking in. A useful one too.

I decided to skip class, in too good a mood to waste my time with plain old school. I was a Werewolf now, above the petty stuff everyday teenagers had to deal with. The only question was what to do with my new-found abilities? As it turned out, I didn't need to ask that question for long. The second I stepped out the school I saw Derek waiting for me. Once again leaning against the hood of his Camaro, facing me with a smirk. I smiled back and made my way over to him. My Alpha.

"Hey, you," I said teasingly as I skipped over to him before firmly stopping before him.

"Enjoying yourself?" Derek asked as he looked down at me.

"Sorry, is that not allowed?" I retorted, cocking my head to the side with playful attitude in my voice.

"No," Derek said with a smile. "I gave you the bite to help you. I'm glad to see it has." He grew more serious as he continued on. "But you remember what I told you, what it means for you."

"Yes. And I'm aware there's a full moon coming up," I admitted as I straightened up, placing my hands in my jean pockets. I'd looked it up last night, realising it was only a few nights away. But I'd deliberately held off on my preparation, for obvious reasons.

"Do you have a plan?" Derek inquired.

"No," I answered before kicking the ground beneath my feet. "I was just enjoying today, the new me and all. I was going to come and find you tomorrow. Ask if you could help me." Suddenly I felt him grab my chin, lifting it up until my eyes met his subtle green ones.

"You're allowed to enjoy the new you. But we have to get you ready first. You can play around after the first full moon and a bit of training," he explained before letting go of my chin.

"I'm not doing anything now," I said with a sly grin and shrug. A small smile before he nodded towards his passenger side door.

"Get in," he ordered.

He drove me through Beacon Hills taking me to the edge of town where he pulled to a stop outside an old run down building. This would have been the last place I expected him to live. If anything, I would have expected an Alpha Werewolf to be living in some mansion in the forest. I didn't say anything though, didn't want to disrespect him after everything he'd done for me.

I followed him inside in silence and he led me down a rusting old staircase and into a dirty old basement with an empty subway car at the back. A few crates were scattered here and there, and some lights had been set up around the room.

"Is this where you live?" I asked as I glanced over the room, stepping off the final step.

"Sort of," Derek answered as he stopped and turned back around to face me. I stood before him, ready to listen to what he had to say. "But it's were we'll both be staying the night of the full moon." I raised my brow at him, folding my arms as I looked around.

"And this place is meant to hold me how?" I asked sceptically as I turned back to Derek. He smiled a little. Smug. Before turning around and stepping into the subway car. A second later he returned with chains in his hand. At first, I didn't think that much of them. Then he dropped them on the ground and a tidal wave of dust shot out around them as they landed with a heavy _thud_. From the sound alone, I knew they were strong, good chains. My brow remained raised, but no longer sceptical, more because it seemed over kill. I lifted my gaze from the chains to meet Derek's amused look.

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing," Derek said.

"I guess that's why you're the Alpha," I said as I knelt down, picking up the chain and running it through my hands. I gripped it tightly, seeing if I could break it with my new strength that I was yet to access. It budged, but not a lot, however, on a full moon I'd be stronger too.

"And you're sure these will hold me?" I asked with a worried look up to him. He could tell I wasn't questioning his methods, just worried about my first full moon.

"If they don't. I will," Derek promised as he bent down to my level. "I promise. I won't let you kill anyone, especially those you care about. I'll make sure you stay down here until morning and then I'll take you home." I nodded, letting the chains go as I stood up. I began hugging myself, suddenly nervous and jumpy about the upcoming full moon. Derek must have sensed it. "It'll be all right."

"I know," I said nervously nodding my head, like my old self. I had to get a grip, stop myself from sliding back into the wimpy little Dylan I'd been before. I liked the new confident Dylan, wanted to keep being her. I let my arms drop, slapping them against my thighs as I plastered on a confident smile once more. "So, you going to start training me or what?"

Derek smirked at me. He could probably still tell I was nervous, but he didn't say anything. Instead we just began my training. He taught me a few basic fighting moves and we had a couple of rounds of sparing, all of which he won. He tried to get me to pull out my claws, but I had no such luck. He gave me some exercises to practise. Clenching my fist and then quickly flexing my fingers out. I did it a couple more times but still nothing. He ended the lesson with a few tips on staying in control of my Werewolf side, though he said he'd go over them again when the full moon was closer. He talked about an anchor, something that keeps you calm. It was basically something you deeply cared about and loved. I decided to use my sister, Erica. He also taught me that anger would bring out my Werewolf side and that if I tapped into it I'd be able to - for lack of a better term - 'wolf out'. Then I got a lecture about staying in control for the next few days and to call him if I felt like I was going to lose control.

Before I left I told him about Scott. He asked if he knew what I was now, but he didn't. He told me not to tell him but if he found out it wasn't a big deal. When I asked why, he explained he was testing Scott. So the scent I had picked up, the unique smell he had, had been because he was a Werewolf. I already figured that out, but Derek wanted to see if Scott could too. I agreed, liking the idea of playing with the guy's head a little and then Derek was kind enough to take me back to school.

Once again, I didn't bother going to class, it was only half an hour left anyway. Instead I went to cafeteria where a lot of students hung out during their free periods. I normally spent mine in the library, away from prying eyes and hurtful words, catching up on work or getting into a good book. Now I didn't need to do that. I had the looks to catch everyone's attention when I walked in. So for the next half hour I sat contently as the boys crowded around to compliment me, while the girls all scowled and glared. I just smiled back sweetly at them, laughing at the boys' jokes – even the ones I didn't find funny – and pretended to consider kissing them. I never would though. I hadn't forgotten how they treated me before I changed. I would never forget. But now it was my turn to play with them all, like they'd done with me. And I was loving every second off it.

I had to end it eventually though, and although the boys were sad to see me go, the girls were happy to wave me off. Though I did get the last laugh when I promised to drop by tomorrow and all the boys began drooling once more. I did enjoying soaking up that look of pure desire on their faces. I could definitely get used to that. As I was leaving I sent a wink to one of the boys, making his girlfriend turn red with anger. I could hear her shouting at him even once I was beyond the door. The heightened hearing made it so much easier to hear how I'd messed with their pretty little heads.

I met Erica outside by the car, her arms folded with what she would call an authoritative pout on her face. "What's up, Sis?" I asked playfully as I stopped opposite her. She continued to scowl at me, like a child who hadn't gotten what they wanted.

"Where were you today?" Erica asked. I went to answer but she cut me off. "And don't say you were in class because I know you weren't." My smile dropped, realising I'd been caught. "I texted you umpteen times and you never got back to me." I frowned before checking my phone and then groaned when I saw she was right, I did have a screen full of messages from her. Some big sister I was. So caught up in the new me and Derek's train that I'd completely forgotten about Erica. I hadn't even asked Derek about offering her the bite yet. I felt horrible. I'd done the one thing I never wanted to do, ignore Erica. I'd let all this go to my head and now Erica was suffering because of it.

"Erica, I'm sorry. I was…busy," I cringed at the lame excuse.

"That's not good enough," Erica said with clear irritation.

"It's hard to explain."

"You know what, forget it. You don't want to tell me, then that's just fine. I just never thought you'd change this much overnight. I mean, I like the new you. But I don't like the new lies that are coming with it," Erica said sadly, with about as much confidence as the poor girl could muster. She never used to have a problem speaking to me. Did the new me really intimidate her that much, make her think of me as one of the popular girls now. Did she think I was going to abandon her? I refused to believe that because I was never going to do that. I'd taken the bite for her, for us.

"Erica, I can't tell you everything yet. But I promise I will, I just need you to trust me for a little while, okay," I begged, stepping forwards and taking her hands in my own. She looked down at them, somehow they must have felt different to normal as she frowned at them before looking into my eyes. I smiled, trying to show her the old me, let her know it was still me underneath my new look and confidence. That I was still her loving sister. But apparently, she didn't make the connection, because she pulled away.

"I think I'm going to walk home," Erica decided with a sad look as she pulled her bag back over her shoulder.

"No," I quickly jumped in, before I fished out the car keys from my pocket and forced them into her hand. "You take the car. I could use the walk," I said with a forced smile. Another suspicious look from Erica as she frowned at me.

"I still have to get my license, remember?" Erica pointed out, staring at me like I was crazy. I could have slapped myself. I really was loosing it, how could I forget something so obvious – heck it had only been her birthday a week ago. I was getting too swept up in the new me. I knew I had to make things right, and do it now before whatever gap had just formed between Erica and started to grow out of control.

I opened my mouth to speak to her, but she'd already pushed the keys back into my hands and turned away. I stepped forward to follow her, ready to call out, but empty air left my mouth as I helplessly watched my sister walk away from me. It was only then I realised just how complicated my life had become by taking the bite. Not one day had passed since I got it and already Erica was running the other way from me. I just wanted to help her. But I couldn't do that and keep her in the dark at the same time apparently. I would need to come up with some sort of a plan, and ideally before my first full moon.


	5. Howl…or Scream?

It had been a few days since I first received the bite from Derek and embarked on my new life as a Werewolf. Bar the incident with Erica, which she was still mad at me for, everything had been going pretty well. According to Derek I was making good progress with my training, although he still felt I could use more practise. I was just proud I'd finally managed to bring my claws out on their own. But with the full moon coming up in the next few days and me with school and trying to make it up to Erica, there wasn't a lot of time practise. Bless Derek though, he didn't push and seemed to understand that I wanted to try and make up with my sister. I had mentioned the possibility of him turning her but he'd either not heard me or deliberately changed the subject. I wouldn't be trying again until after the full moon. My guess was he just wanted to deal with one new Werewolf on the full moon before creating another. I could respect that, but I wasn't about to give up. I wanted Erica to feel like me, powerful and renewed with life. It still amazed me that after so many days the feeling hadn't faded. I wondered if it ever would.

I was at home now. Derek had let me go early for some reason, though he had ordered me to go home. I found it odd but since he was the Alpha I didn't feel I had much choice, so I did. I did ask what the matter was, but he said everything was fine and for me to get some rest. I knew he was keeping something from me, but after heading home I figured there was little point in heading back out to try and find him. It would probably just make him mad anyway.

I had planned to use the time to try and talk to Erica, but she was locked away in her room and refusing to speak to me. I'd knocked on her door a few times, but she continued to ignore me. Things hadn't gotten better between us. She'd asked a couple of times for me to tell her the truth and I'd hesitated. Now she'd resulted to the worst punishment she could give me, the silent treatment. We only did that to one another when we were truly mad at each other.

So instead of pushing her too much I retreated to my room and finished off a history paper I'd been working on. It wasn't due for another two weeks, but it never hurt to get ahead of myself, particularly when from now on, one night of the month I'd be out of commission and chained up in a subway car.

When I got that done, I walked over to my closet and began fishing through several bags of clothing. I managed to encourage mom to take me and Erica shopping. Erica had wiggled out of it but I convinced mom to buy her a new stock of cloths anyway. She'd thank me for it once I convinced Derek to give her the bite.

As for me, mom had been so thrilled about me going shopping with her she'd gone over kill on buying me new cloths. I had offered to pay for my own things, but mom refused it and paid for anything that caught my eye saying I could try it on when I got home. So that was what I'd been doing every night after practise with Derek, trying on new cloths to see which I'd liked and which I didn't. I'd picked out a few dresses I liked, some more t-shirts that I added to my ever growing collection and a few pairs of shorts. Mom had even been kind enough to buy me necklace, to celebrate the new me. It wasn't anything fancy, just a silver crescent moon locket. In one half I'd placed a picture of a seven year old me, reminding me where I'd come from, and in the other half I'd put in a picture of a six year old Erica. To remind me who I was doing this for.

Out of the six bags stuffed full of things for me to try on, I'd managed to make my way through two. I was just starting on the third, trying on a short black dress with a wavy skirt, when I suddenly heard something. Like a howl…but not one. I knew what a howl sounded like. Derek had taught me so that I'd know if he was in severe danger. Also, so that I could signal him if I was ever in a similar situation. But what I'd just heard hadn't been like a normal Werewolf howl. More like…a scream. And yet I still felt the need to investigate. Whether it was my Werewolf instincts or just human curiosity I didn't know, but I couldn't help myself.

Leaving with the dress I had on, I grabbed my leather jacket from my bed and quickly threw it on. I then laced up my boots – which only left an inch or two of skin visible on my legs – and took off, rushing down the stairs two at a time. I had a rough idea of where the scream had come from so I knew where I was heading. I decided to leave the car, it would only slow me down. I shouted a goodbye and took off out the door. I ran down the street, leaping a fence first chance I got and taking off into the woods on all fours. I could still hear the scream echoing through my head, guiding me almost.

As I went further into the forest I began to slow, returning to my two legs rather than all fours. Like Derek had taught me I began to use my senses. I was a lot better at using them than my strength or speed. At home, I was getting close to guessing what mom was cooking just by smell alone. Even at school, I could sense what other students had for lunch after one or two sniffs. So I took a whiff of the air, a scent I didn't recognise filling my nostrils. I frowned and continued on, following it.

Eventually I reached a clearing, stopping as a shudder passed up my back. Before me was an old burnt down house, its creepy shadow passing across the forest floor like it was home to Dracula…or something a lot worse. For a brief moment I considered turning back, but I caught sight of something through one of the chard windows. A figure moving inside. My frown deepened, and curiosity quickly got the better of me. I made my way across the opening and up the short steps before entering the house.

The inside wasn't' much better than the outside. Just as black from scorch marks and thick with dust. Vines pocking out through the floor as they began to climb the walls, and moss growing in the corners of every room. "Hello," I called out as I stepped towards the old staircase which looked as if it would give way beneath my foot.

"Hello," another voice said back. Thankfully it didn't come from upstairs but instead from the next room on my left, so I didn't have to try my luck with the stairs. I turned and made my way into what looked like the remains of the living room. A torn-up sofa close to the entrance with a fireplace on the far wall, curtains dangling from the windows and just barely hiding the outside world. I looked around and then my eyes landed on a girl. A naked girl stood in the corner of the room, playing with a mirror from what I could see. I tried to get a look at her face but her fizzy red hair blocked my view. She was whispering something, but even with my focused hearing I couldn't pick it up. Possibly because what she was saying didn't make any sense.

"Hello," I called out again and the girl jumped, letting go of the mirror she was holding as it landed on the floor with a thud, thankfully not shattering for her sake. Then the girl turned, and I saw who it was – now wishing the mirror had shattered.

"Lydia!" I all but shouted as my frown turned to a glare. The red headed girl tilted her head to the side, eyeing me curiously for a moment before her head snapped back up to attention making me step back. Creepy house plus creepy girl. I knew when I was in the middle of a horror movie.

"Who the hell are you?" Lydia snapped as she quickly covered herself up. "And what the hell am I doing here!" she demanded as she looked around the old house before turning her attention back to me. "And why am I naked!"

I smirked. So little miss popular had finally snapped. I'd heard she'd been sent to hospital because of some strange circumstances. Maybe it was because she'd had a mental break down. Now Lydia might have been the last one I'd suspect to have one, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to enjoy it. God knew she'd caused a few mental break downs of her own just through her constant bullying.

"Why are you smiling?" Lydia snapped again, hugging herself.

"Oh, I just like karmic revenge," I said with devilish grin.

"Karma? But I didn't even do anything wrong."

"We both know that's a lie, Lydia. You've hurt a lot of people, including me," I said with a hint of anger as I began to advance on the frantic girl.

"I don't even know you! How do you know my name?" Lydia cried as she stumbled back, landing on her back side before scurrying into the corner as I continued to advance slowly, placing one foot in front of the other as to drag it out. I was going to make her suffer, like she'd made me and Erica suffer. She was clearly delusional, she'd run away from the hospital after all. And she was running around naked in the woods. It would be no surprise if she turned up dead, or if an animal attacked her. An animal like me.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," I snapped as I glared down at the shaking red head. "You walked all over me for years. Called me names, taunted me, you made my life a misery. Well, now I've got the power. And now I'm going to get revenge for every name, every trip up and every rumour you ever started. And I'm going to make it slow. Just like my s–t–u–tt-er," I said, deliberately sounding out the syllables of 'stutter' as I lowered myself to Lydia's level. Then with a growl, I felt my eyes begin to glow their yellow amber colour, as I flexed my fingers and unleashed my claws out. "Now…this is going to hurt," I said smugly before reach to scratch her face with my claws.

But then she screamed and suddenly I was on the floor, hands wrapped around my ears as the demonic scream pierced my ears. It was so powerful and so loud that I lost all thought and all that was left was searing pain.

_How was it, even after all this time, even after I became a Werewolf, Lydia still had the power to make me feel this much pain?!_

Then the scream stopped but I remained curled up on the floor, clutching my ears. I could feel the blood trickling out, spreading across my hands which held on for dear life. I looked up at Lydia, snarling through my trembling rage. But she was in a trance once more, like before when she first turned around before I'd gotten the upper hand. She stood up, now tower over me like she had so many times before. She looked down, head tilting like before, studying me like I was some wounded animal for her to play with. It truly scared me, that cold look in her eye.

And then she left. Just left. Walked out without another word. I listened as the floor boards creaked beneath her feet until finally she reached the door and it closed behind her. Then she descended the stairs outside and walked off into the forest, leaves cracking beneath her feet until she vanished from my supernatural ear shot all together. I would have followed, gone after her and finished her off once and for all, but whatever she'd done had left me paralysed.

For what could have been an hour I remained frozen on the floor until finally my hands loosened from my ears and I was able to sit up. Gently, I touch my inner ear, checking for blood, but it seemed whatever wound Lydia had created had healed itself up.

Carefully, I got back to my feet, brushing off my new dress as I sniffed the air. Her scent still lingered, but after what just happened, I was admittedly conflicted. I wanted to get back at her, hurt her like she hurt me. However, I was no longer as confident as I once was, and there was a small part of me that said if I went after her the same thing might happen again, if not worse.

But then, my thoughts of Lydia snapped when I heard voices from outside the house.

"She came here? You sure?" I wasn't quite sure about that one, teenage boy for sure, but as to who it belonged to I couldn't quite place it. But the second voice. That was a voice I knew.

"Yeah, this is where the scent leads…but…there's another one here too…" Scott McCall.

Time for some more fun.


	6. I never had a Clique, but I have a Pack

"What do you mean? Like, another person?" Allison asked from outside as I made my way to the front door, careful not to make too much noise and reveal myself to soon.

"Yeah," Scott murmured, daze in his voice, like he wasn't completely focused on the conversation but on his other senses instead.

"Do you know who it is?" the other boy asked as I opened up the door and stepped out onto the blackened porch, smirking as they all stared at me. I recognised the boy and his voice now, it was Stiles – Erica's high school crush. I'd have to be careful with that one, for now. But Scott and Allison were fair game. One was a fellow Werewolf and the other a Hunter, sworn to kill me and anyone else like me. I sized her up, no sign of weapons and without them she'd have no chance against me.

"You?" Scott said as he stepped forward.

"Hello, Scott," I said with flirtatious smirk.

"Isn't that the girl from school?" Allison asked, stepping up to Scott's side. She was whispering but I could hear her easily.

"Yeah," Scott agreed, still stunned by my appearance.

"Is she-" Allison began to ask but I quickly cut in smugly.

"Yes, Allison. I am." Her gaze shot to me and a chuckle tickled my throat as I stepped off the porch with a carefree attitude, hopping off the last step. "Does that mean you're going to kill me now? That's what you Hunters do, right? Kill Werewolves," I said as I began to advance on the group of three.

"I wouldn't-" Allison began with a shaking voice before I cut in sharply.

"So I guess that means I'll have to kill you first then." I let my claws come out, still a few paces away from them and got ready to pounce when Scott stepped in front of Allison. Her defensive little guard dog. I laughed at that, taking a step back in good faith and letting my claws retract. "You're so whipped," I teased. "Though I do love Romeo and Juliet…" I tilted my head to the side, eyeing the couple with a tormenting smirk. "Sad ending though." I watched as they made the connection, both sharing a worried look as I smiled.

"All right, look enough of your little Werewolf mind games," Stile cut in as he stepped forward. I turned to him with a mixture of surprise and amusement. I knew the boy could ramble, Erica had told me as much, but I'd never had believed he was confident enough to stand up to a Werewolf like me. Maybe it was just because he was friends with a Hunter and another Werewolf. "We're looking for Lydia, have you seen her?"

I tilted my head up, finger going to my chin as I pretended to think it over. "Lydia…Lydia…" I murmured as I began to slowly walk towards him. "Oh! You mean the spoiled, little, bratty, red-head, that not only ruined my life but my sister's as well, and torments anyone she doesn't deem as popular or cool. The same bitch that is now running around these woods naked with half a bag of marbles?" I asked, with each step my voice getting louder and angrier as I slowly listed of all of Lydia's lovely qualities until I was face to face with Stiles. The boy took a step back, but I continued to advance on him, lips snarling as if ready to bite into him. I could feel Scott watching me in case I made a move, but he stuck by Allison, prioritising his girlfriend over his best friend. At the last second my eyes began to glow a furious golden amber and Stiles gaped in fright before the glow faded and I smiled sweetly at him.

"Haven't seen her."

Stiles let out a frustrated sigh as he glared at me, slapping his arms against his sides. "You're funny, you know that?" he said sarcastically as he looked over to Scott and Allison before returning his gaze to me. I began to pout as if I'd been offended.

"Stiles. You're really hurting my feelings." I then shoved him with force and he stumbled back a god few meters before finally falling over, the sound of mechanical movements followed. I frown for the briefest of seconds before I heard Allison yelp and turned to see Scott hanging upside down, a wire holding one of his legs up in the air. I laughed, and Allison and Stiles joined in, though not a strong. "Now that's funny," I said as my laughter began to die, and I turned my attention to a softly smiling Allison. Her smile dropped when she saw the sinister look in my eye.

"And now that your boyfriend here is out the way. I get to kill my first Hunter." I quickly whipped out my claws and advanced while Scott yelled at me to stop. I ignored him, he couldn't stop me. I might have let Lydia get away, but Allison was just as bad as her, miss popular from the moment she arrived. She'd never had to feel the way I did, and she deserved to suffer for that alone. She backed away but tripped and I straddled her, pinning her to the ground and ready to kill her with one quick slash across the throat.

"DON'T!" Scott shouted out desperately from behind me, my hand now raised up in the air. Then I stopped. Not because of Scott's desperate cries. No, I'd cried much more than that and never gotten any sympathy. I stopped at the sound of footsteps coming our way and the smell of three new scents. My head shot up, eyes scanning the forest. Scott had stopped screaming, doing the same. From the sound of the foot steps, and the scent they were giving off, I assumed three adult men, one of which had a similar scent to Allison. My best bet. Hunters.

"Someone's coming," Scott murmured. I didn't miss a beat, leaping up to my feet and darting back towards the burnt house while Scott told his friends to hide. I did the same, getting into the house and closing the door quietly before crouching down against it so I could hear what was going on outside. I wasn't ready to fight hunters, I wasn't an idiot. Allison I could handle, but these ones more than likely had weapons and were fully trained. It would be a slaughter. So I waited inside the safety of the house and listened to see if I could get any useful information.

"Scott?" one of the men said from outside.

"Mr. Argent," Scott replied. So I had been right about the scent, it had been someone related to Allison, her father. Judging by the distance of their voices, Mr. Argent must have been right next to Scott. From a rough guess, judging by the beating hearts I assumed the two other Hunters were hanging back. As for Allison and Stiles, they'd taken cover behind some tree, presumably out of sight.

I then refocused my hearing on the conversation between Scott and Mr. Argent, deciding that was where my attention should be. But I kept an ear out for any movement from the other two Hunters, just in case.

"How are you doing?" Mr. Argent asked Scott.

"Good. You know, just hangin' out…Is this one of yours? It's, uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting." The joys of small talk, especially with the girlfriend's dad. Something no one had to ever experience with my dad, as me and Erica had never had a boyfriend.

"What are you doing out here, Scott?"

"Looking for my friend," Scott said, more defiantly compared to his previous comments. The way I would have spoken if anyone attempted to threaten Erica, especially now.

"Ah, that's right. Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of the clique? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it?" A pause. "Part of your Pack?" Wait. Did they think Lydia was turning into a Werewolf? That would have explained the scream that was like a howl. She might have been in the middle of transforming. But surely if Derek had bitten her he would have told me. And he hadn't told me about any special scream Werewolves had. She had to be something different.

"Actually, clique sounds about right to me," Scott replied tightly.

"I hope so. 'Cause I know she's a friend of Allison's, and one special circumstance, such as yourself – one, I can handle. Not two." Another pause. So that was why Scott was so cosy with Allison, because she was keeping him safe from the Hunters. The word, '_whipped_,' didn't nearly qualify. He was on a leash, like Allison's little puppy. And if he stepped out of line she'd have him killed.

"Scott, do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?" Mr. Argent suddenly asked.

"I have a feeling I don't want to," Scott muttered back.

"A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist. Cutting them in half. Takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that." Just hearing about it made my stomach turn. The idea of someone's body lying in two parts, guts, bone, blood and God knows what else leaking out from both halves. I took a calming breath, settling my stomach before Mr. Argent continued. "Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary." And with that Mr. Argent and the Hunters left.

Allison and Stiles came out of hiding first, helping Scott to free himself from the Hunter's trap. As for me, I remained hidden just in case. A minute passed and then I stood up, opening the door slowly before peering out into the gloomy forest. Once I was sure it was clear, I stepped out to see the group of three making their way towards the house. I met their gaze and stepped off the porch, stopping at the base of the stairs as they stopped a few feet away.

"You okay?" Scott asked sincerely which shocked me admittedly. I frowned at him, trying to work out his angle and why he was pretending to be nice to me. Eventually I nodded though, making a show of folding my arms when in fact I was hugging myself, suddenly feeling very cold. "Did Derek turn you?"

"What's it to you?" I snapped with a glare at my fellow Werewolf.

"I just want to talk," Scott pleaded.

"Really? You want to talk? Or do you want to steal me from Derek's Pack, so you can form your own?" I accused, pushing my hip out to the side as I continued to glare at the three.

"This has nothing to do with Packs," Scott said defensively.

"No, it does, Scott," I said as I took a single threatening step towards him, making sure he felt the full wrath of my glare. "'Cause unlike you and your friends, I've never had a clique. All I ever had was my sister. No one else ever lifted a finger to help me or her, until Derek came along. So now I have a Pack, and I'll chose my Pack over you any day." I turned to leave but Scott reached out and grabbed my arm, holding me back so he could talk more.

"We're on your side," Scott pressed with a friendly look in his eye.

"We just want to help you," Allison spoke up, almost naively.

"Trust us. You don't know what you're caught up in. You better off with us than Derek. I can help you, keep you safe from the Hunters, make sure you don't get caught up in some stupid war. Just come with us and I promise you'll be safe," Scott said with a pointed look. I was ashamed to say I did, for a moment, consider going with them. Hearing them out and possibly even abandoning Derek all together. Then I remembered everything I'd been through and how even when Scott and Stiles where nobodies they still avoided me and Erica like the plague. So, I asked the one question that I knew would shut them up.

"What's my name?" I asked simply.

I then watched as each of their eyes widened, suddenly realising that none of them in fact knew who I was. "Right there, that's why I'm staying with Derek. He knows my name." I pulled my arm from Scott's hold, but he didn't try very hard to hold on, still stunned by the fact I'd shut him down with just one question. I walked off a few paces then looked back over my shoulder at the group of three, all looking shamefully at the forest floor.

"It's Dylan by the way."

And with that I walked off into the night.


	7. Human Contact

The following night I was once again at home, making dinner with Erica. And unfortunately, she was still giving me the silent treatment. The only communication I'd managed to get out of her was when I asked what she wanted to make. She'd barely given it a second thought before marching over to the cook book, opening it up and then throwing the book down in front of me. I tried not to grin at the recipe she'd picked out. A Spicy pasta dish. When she shot me a glare I lost all feeling of amusement and got to work. I let Erica do as she pleased and whatever she wasn't doing I took responsibility for. We were almost finished when the doorbell rang.

I looked down at my outfit, plain black t-shirt and ripped dark jeans. Both stained from the food preparation. I didn't care too much and after dusting off my hands I made my way to the front door. I opened the door and then jumped a little when I saw Derek on the other side. "Em…Hi," I said, more than a little startled.

"Hi," Derek replied politely with a friendly smile. He hadn't been smiling like that in a while. As I'd gotten to know him better, I'd realised very little of Derek was smiles. He was like a gruff old man, only in a young fit body. Still I cared about him and would stand by him not just because he was my Alpha, but because he was my friend. Even so this was the first time he'd stopped by my house. "Everything all right?" Derek asked as he frowned at me.

"Yeah. I just thought that if you ever came over you'd sneak in and just appear like in all my fantasy books," I explained as Derek's frown turned from one of light concern to a mildly offended one.

"I am capable of using the door you know," Derek pointed out.

"Right, sorry," I quickly apologised before stepping aside gesturing for him to come in. He did, and I closed the door behind him. "So what's up?" I asked, folding my arms as I rolled my lips in and he turned to face me.

"I need your help." My eyes widened. This was another first, he'd never asked me for help before. My mind began to race, wondering why an Alpha would need a lowly Beta's help with anything. Even when I'd gone to tell him about last night, he'd had only mild interest about my solo adventure, and once I was done he'd tiredly told me to leave.

"With what?" I inquired, a little pride in my eye at the thought of him coming to me for help.

"I've been tracking a new wolf in town. An Omega," Derek began to explain in a low voice so that no one in the house could over hear us from the hallway. "The last two nights I've been out but I'm having trouble keeping a fix on his scent. So I want you to come with me and give me a hand."

"Why?" I asked with a smirk. I had an idea why, but I just wanted to hear him say it.

"You've come along way with your senses. It indicates you might be a good Tracker. Every Pack needs one. I figured we might as well put your skills to the test and get some practise in as well." I smiled up at him and he smirked a little in response. We both stood there for a moment before my mom walked in.

"Who's at the door, Hon – Oh, hello," my mom said in her usual upbeat friendly manner that would undoubtedly scare away any friends, if I had them. I expected Derek to start snapping at her but instead he plastered on his friendly mask and turned to greet her with a smile.

"Mrs. Reyes? Hi, I'm Derek, a friend of Dylan's," Derek quickly introduced himself before reaching out with his hand to shake my mom's.

"Oh, well, hello, nice to meet you," my mom replied as she shook Derek's hand, taking him in with her eyes.

"Sorry to be a bother but I need Dylan's help with something personal," Derek explained with a sheepish look as he looked over to me and then back to my mom. "Do you mind if I borrow her for the evening?"

"Well, why don't you stay and have dinner first? Dylan and Erica have been making pasta," she said as she tried to entice Derek.

"That sounds very nice, but this is a time sensitive thing and I'm afraid we're going to have to dash." Derek then looked back to me and subtly nodded for me to go and get ready, and fast.

"I'll just grab my jacket," I said as I headed for the stairs. I ran up to room and was back down in record time, pulling on my jacket and ready to go. "Right let's go," I said with a grin as I opened the door. Derek walked out, and I was about to follow when I heard Erica.

"Where are you going?" I stopped and turned back around to see her standing in the archway that led to the kitchen. A sad look on her face. It broke my heart, but Derek needed me, and he was my Alpha. She'd understand soon enough, once I had another chat with Derek about making her the offer.

"I'm sorry, Erica. I promise I'll make it up to you," I said with a sad look. She looked heartbroken and all I could do was close the door. It was just preparing a meal, but clearly she'd been missing me, even if she wasn't speaking to me. I'd make it up to her just as soon as me and Derek were done with this Omega Werewolf.

"You okay?" Derek asked as we walked over to his car, noticing the irritated and determined look on my face.

"When this is over you and I are having a serious talk about my sister." He didn't say anything in response and was silent for the entire ride over to the forest. Once we were deep enough, he pulled over and we got out. From there it was an hour or so of roaming the woods trying to pick up on the Omega's scent. I'd learnt to pick up scents quick enough when in the presence of a target, but picking it up when the target wasn't in sight was a different story. Luckily Derek was seasoned at it and located it for me. Once he did, he spent the next few minutes helping me pick up the same scent he had. And then we were off.

Derek was right, I was good at tracking. Once I had the scent I was like a hunting dog chasing after its prey. I was so confident I even managed to take off ahead of Derek with him trailing behind. The scent never wavered, not once. It was like I could see the Werewolf in the desistance, just at the edge of the darkness, and I was gaining on him. The path twisted and turned zigzagging over itself a few times, but I managed to keep up with it and continued on in what I hoped was the right direction. When I confided in Derek about my worries, he assured me he believed in me. And sure, enough we did find the Omega Werewolf, along with Scott who was also chasing him.

"Wait! Stop!" Scott called after him as he ran. I was about to jump in and join the chase when Derek grabbed my shoulder. I looked back, about to ask what was going on, when I saw him listening, face serious. I did the same and was suddenly bombarded with several heartbeats and heavy footsteps. The Hunters. They were here.

"Come on," Derek said as he took off towards Scott with me following behind, the instinct to stay close to my Alpha and protect him driving away any fears I might have had towards the Hunters. I watched as Scott came to a stop, the Omega Werewolf hitting yet another of the Hunters' trip wires and being pulled up by his hands. I felt bad for him but there wasn't time to save him like Scott was trying to. Since Derek got to him first, he quickly shoved Scott aside. I then joined him as we both grabbed and arm each and hoisted him up, pulling him off to the side where we took cover behind a tree trunk. I ducked down, peering around to keep an eye out for the Hunters while Derek restrained Scott.

"What are you doing? I can help him," Scott pleaded as he tried to pry himself free of Derek's hold.

"They're already here," Derek hissed as he allowed Scott to look around the tree, both standing over me as we all looked around to see the Hunters surrounding the trapped Omega. Now that I knew Derek was in no immediate danger, my fear was starting to seep back in, just from the sheer number of Hunters that were out tonight. All looking to kill a Werewolf. One of the men stepped forward, flicking out what appeared to be a cattle prod before then jabbing the Omega with it. He screamed and I quietly gasped as I watched them electrocute him until finally he turned back to human form.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The unmissable voice of Mr. Argent, only this time I could see him, dressed in full hunting gear like his friends. The only one that seemed out of place was an older man stood surrounded by the Hunters, watching as Mr. Argent questioned the Werewolf.

"Nothing. Nothing, I swear," the wolf begged.

"You're not from here, are you?"

"No. No, I came…I came looking for the Alpha. I heard he was here. That's all." So he was looking for Derek. Did that mean he wanted to join our Pack? "Look, I didn't do anything. I didn't hurt anyone. No one living. He wasn't alive in the ambulance. He wasn't, I swear." I knew he was lying. I might have not have known the full context but I knew he was lying, trying to save himself from whatever fate the Hunters had in store for him.

"Gentlemen!" the older man finally called out, address the Hunters. "Take a look at a rare sight." He paused, turning to Mr. Argent. "You wanna tell them what we've caught?" He must have been in charge. I thought it would be Allison's dad but apparently not, apparently seniority was a big thing with Hunters.

"An Omega," Mr. Argent declared.

"The lone wolf!" the old man roared in triumph, like it was some amazing achievement to catch a living creature. I could already tell this guy was one of the worst people on the planet, taking joy in tormenting another living creature, even if he was a Werewolf – and himself a Hunter. "Possibly kicked out of his own Pack. Or the survivor of a Pack that was hunted down. Maybe even murdered. And possibly alone by his own choice. Certainly not a wise choice." The old man finished with a chuckle before walking off to the side and pulling out a silver longsword. "Because, as I am about to demonstrate." He held up the sword proudly, gripping it with both hands firmly, staring coldly into the eyes of the Omega. "An Omega rarely survives…on his own."

Then he swung the sword, slicing clean through the Omega's chest, just as Mr. Argent had described to Scott the night before. I gasped in horror and was forced to turn away as I felt vomit flood into my mouth. The sight of his lower half dropping, off guts and blood pouring out while his spin dangled from the top half of the now dead body. It was all too much. I threw up, trying to be as quiet as possible. Mr. Argent saying it had been one thing, one thing that gave me nightmares. But seeing it had possibly scarred me for life. This was what the Hunters were capable off, this was what they did. Kill Werewolves in the cruellest way possible, like they just had with that poor Omega.

"Look. Look. Look at them!" Derek hissed at Scott as he to tried to look away until finally he turned back to the horrific sight. "You see what they do? This is why you need me." Finally, I found the courage to look back, almost throwing up once more at the sight of the twisting, twirling, top half of the Omega. "Why we need each other," Derek continued to hiss at Scott. "The only way to fight them is together."

"What are they doing?" Scott panted out in between heavy breaths.

"Declaring war," Derek said as he glared over at the hunters who thankfully hadn't noticed us.

"We have a code," Mr. Argent said as he stepped up to the older man who looked at him before turning back to the remains of the Omega.

"Not when they murder my daughter," the old man declared before stabbing the sword into the ground, leaving it to stand on its own as he turned to address the Hunters. "No code. Not anymore. From now on, these things are just bodies waiting to be cut in half. Are you listening? Because I don't care if they're wounded and weak. Or seemingly harmless, begging for their life with the promise that they will never, ever hurt anyone. Or some desperate, lost soul with no idea what they're getting into. We find them. We kill them. We kill them all!" the old – and frankly terrifying – man declared in pure anger to the Hunters.

Derek was right. This was war.

Eventually the Hunters cleared out, taking the two halves of the Omega with them. Derek let Scott go and he mumbled off something about going to meet Stiles and resume the search for Lydia. I could careless, so I didn't bother listening before he left. Instead I just stood, staring at the blood stains on the forest floor, the blood of the wolf that had been cut down for no reason other than to satisfy the bloodlust of the Hunters. Hypocrites, the lot of them.

I jumped when I felt Derek's hand on my shoulder, turning to see his concerned eyes. "You all right?" he asked, hand remaining on my shoulder. Somehow making me feel safer. Maybe it was an Alpha thing, or perhaps I just really needed human contact right now. I nodded feebly. "Do you want me to take you home?" Another feeble nodded. From there he led me back to the car and drove me home in my numb state. It was strange, like an out of body experience. The car journey flew by and next thing I knew Derek was taking me out of the car and leading my up to the front door.

"Do you want me to stay close by?" I appreciated his concern, but I didn't need a babysitter. I told him I'd be fine and that'd call him tomorrow. Still, he waited until I was in the house before leaving. My parents were already in bed, as was Erica. I glanced down at my muddy cloths and sighed. I began peeling them off as I walked up the stairs then dumped them in a pile at the door. I could handle the cleaning in the morning. The only thing I bothered to hang up was my jacket, draping it over the back of my desk chair. Then I pulled on my pjs and was about to get into bed when I suddenly remembered the cut-up Omega. I was now regretting sending Derek away. I really didn't want to be alone. I needed human contact.

My eyes moved to the bathroom door and I took a calming breath before heading towards it. I opened the door and then opened the second one, heading into Erica's room. She had her back to me, so I stood in the doorway letting the light shine in for a moment before I decided to speak.

"Erica?" I called out. She looked over, saw me and then turned away. I cringed in hurt a little, but continued in and closed the door behind me. "Erica, I'm sorry. I know that wasn't fair, me running out on you. I _really_ am sorry. And I am going to make it up to you, I promise." She remained still, not looking back. "But I really need you right now," my voice croaked, tears beginning to burn my eyes at the thought of the Omega again. "And I know it's not fair…but can I please just spend the night in here with you?" She didn't say anything and for a moment I thought she was going to kick me out. But instead she remained quiet, and then flipped over the covers so that I could join her. A smile touched my lips and I climbed into bed next to my sister. My arms wrapping around her like they used to do when we were kids and she'd had a bad dream. I heard her sniff sadly. And then I sniffed sadly too. And then we slept through the night, holding each other as if we'd never even been arguing, smiling as we dreamt happily.


	8. New Pack Mate

The last few days had been interesting to say the least. After I'd spent the night in Erica's room, I'd found out from Derek that later that same day he'd turned another person into a Werewolf. A boy named Isaac. I got to meet him during my training session that day. Like me he was a social pariah though he had managed to climb onto the lacrosse team even before he got the bite. I could see the confidence beginning to settle in, but the combination of the smoking hot me and intimidating Derek was preventing it from flourishing like it had with me. Still, he did well for his first session, able to bring out his claws on the fourth or fifth attempt. He was a sweet enough boy and one that I was happy enough to let join the pack, not that it was up to me. Derek had the final say.

Which was why when a few days later Derek showed up at my door with Isaac right before school I couldn't turn either of them away. What I could do was think fast and compromise. So instead of letting them in, I stepped out and closed the door behind me, not wanting to bring any more attention on Derek than he already had by showing up at my house. "What are you guys doing here so early?" I asked, folding my arms as I eyed them both.

"We've got a problem," Derek said seriously. Isaac remained quiet at his side, hands shoved in his jean pockets, gaze cast down uneasily.

"What happened?" I asked, concern finding its way into my voice.

"Isaac's dad is dead." My jaw dropped and my eyes filled with sorrow as I turned to Isaac.

"I'm sorry."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg I'm afraid," Derek continued as I moved back over to him.

"It gets worse?" I asked sceptically.

"He was killed by something, but not a human or a Werewolf." At that my mind shot to Lydia but I kept my mouth shut and let Derek go on – he'd made it clear when I told him about what happened in the woods, that he didn't care about Lydia so there was no sense in bringing it up again. "But we'll have to deal with that later because Isaac is going to get arrested later today on suspicion of murder."

"How could you-"

"His dad was beating him." My jaw dropped further, and my eyes moved back over to Isaac who lowered his head even further, as if it was somehow his fault. And I thought my life had been bad, at least I wasn't getting beaten like poor Isaac. He was so nice as well, nearly impossible to imagine anyone wanting to hurt him. "That's motive. And sooner or later the police are going to figure it out. I need you to stick by him today at school. Afterwards I'll get him and take him to get chained up for the full moon before you arrive." I'd almost forgotten about that, tonight was our first full moon. I wanted to curse Derek for turning Isaac so soon, but it sounded like he'd possibly needed the bite more than me.

"Sure, I'll keep an eye on him," I promised.

"If the police show up, call me," Derek ordered and I nodded before turning my attention back to Isaac.

"You okay?" He shrugged, unsure of how to answer. I wasn't all that surprised. He'd lost his dad, but his dad had been the one beating him and making him suffer. The man was supposed to protect and comfort him, not beat him to a pulp whenever he felt like it. "Have you had anything to eat yet?" He shook his head. "All right, come in and get something to eat," I said as I opened up the door and motioned him in. He looked to Derek and once the Alpha nodded he proceeded inside. "I'll take him to school, you can do whatever Alpha things you need to do, I've got this."

"You sure?" Derek asked, looking past me and into the hallway where Isaac was waiting for me.

"Of course. I wasn't turned yesterday," I said with a smirk to him, trying to remain optimistic in reflection of my new self. Derek looked at me with nothing but seriousness, clearly not finding me all that amusing. "Right… I'll see you later then," I said, stepping in and closing the door before turning to Isaac. "This way, I'll get you some cereal," I said as I led him into the kitchen.

He didn't eat much. Isaac only pecked at the food I brought him, though I was hardly surprised. Death rarely made anyone hungry. I did my best to comfort him but I barely knew the guy. During Derek's training sessions he only spoke when spoken too. I did see him crack a smile a few times but he did little more than that. And yet, I still felt a bond to him. Not like what I had with Erica but similar. Like he was now my little brother in a way.

Eventually Erica walked in, confused by the sight of Isaac. Since we were sort of kinda back on speaking terms I explained that something had happened and he needed a lift to school. I didn't go any further than that before asking Erica if that was all right. She had eyed Isaac for a second before agreeing. Thankfully she didn't ask anything more after that, not even during the ride to school. I parked the car and Erica got out, saying bye as she left. Isaac had been about to follow but I reached into the back and grabbed his leg, giving him a look that told him to stay seated. He seated himself back down and rested his hands on his lapping, waiting patiently. He was handling the death of his father surprisingly well, it was pretty scary. Then again, the bite had completely changed her, why wouldn't it do the same to Isaac.

"What are your classes?" I asked. I needed to know where he was and when if I was going to keep an eye on him. Being in the year above I wasn't going to be sharing any classes with him unless he was incredibly smart, which I sensed he wasn't. He listed of his classes before pausing in the middle, lowering his eyes as he thought for a moment. "What is it?"

"I have lacrosse practise right now," Isaac explained with a sheepish look. I groaned, having forgotten about the fact he was on the team. He sat on the bench most of the time as far as I knew but he still had to show up for practise.

"Can't you skip it?" I asked hopefully but I could see in his eyes he didn't want to. He needed this, it was normal for him, plus he probably wanted to try out his new Werewolf powers on the field. I could hardly blame him for that. The first day after I'd turned all I did was show off my new self. Could I really stop him from doing the same? The answer should have been, 'yes,' since it was a full moon – and the police could show up at any moment. But all Derek wanted me to do was watch him. I could do that while he played and if anything looked like it might go wrong, I'd just step in. Plus, Scott and Stiles would be there to help. If the Werewolf secret was at risk, then they'd definitely help to protect it.

"All right fine, you can go," I sighed in defeat. Isaac smiled at me from the back seat until I fixed him with an authoritative look and finger point. "But I'm coming too, and I'll be watching you like a hawk. One slip up, one flicker in those eyes and I'm pulling you off the field. Understood?" He nodded, still smiling a little. With the lecture over I smiled at him, less authoritative and more like a friend. "Come on then." We got out the car and walked him towards the locker room until I caught the scent of Scott and stopped. Isaac stopped, watching me in concern. I motioned him on while putting a finger to my lips telling him to be quiet in case Scott was listening. "I'll be watching," I said as I stepped away, winking at him teasingly before turning and walking outside to the bleachers. I waited for about ten minutes and then groups of the players began to come out, some stretching while others ideally chatted. A few of the players came up to chat with me. I played along, pretending I was there for them, leaning back and showing off my cleavage. If they hadn't been wearing cups, I reckoned I would known just how happy they were to see me.

At one point I saw Isaac looking up at me. I could tell he was thinking of coming over, but I subtly motioned him away before going back to flirting with my boys. Eventually coach came up and starting shouting at the players before then shouting at me for being a distraction. I joked about trying to be uglier next time and the boys quickly jumped to my defence, so predictable and easy to manipulate. Coach could have cared less about my looks by that point, he just wanted the boys to shut up and get down to the field for practise. I blew each of the boys a kiss for luck and they went on their way with Coach, who was gagging and muttering as he followed before blowing on his whistle to get started.

They started running the warm up exercises, jogging around the field, when I caught a whiff of a familiar pair of scents. I smiled, leaning back once more as Scott and Stiles sat down on either side of me. "What's up boys?" I asked playfully.

"Who is it?" Scott asked with simple seriousness as he stared at me with Stiles doing the same on my other side. I turned towards him, all but ignoring Stiles. He wasn't important right now anyway. I'd deal with him later or possibly even leave him for Erica. She deserved to mess with him after all the times he ignored her, intentional or not. With Scott, I played dumb, smiling sweetly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I picked up the scent of another Werewolf," Scott whisper shouted at me.

"You sure it wasn't just little old me," I asked with a bat of my eyelashes.

"It was in the locker room," Stiles cut in. I turned to him, my smile turning to a feisty grin as my eyebrows rose.

"Who says I wasn't in the boy's locker room at some point." He opened his mouth to start arguing with me then stopped, realising the meaning in my words. He deflated and backed down as I smiled at him before turning back to Scott. "Or maybe my scent just…rubbed off on one of the players. You know…like how yours rubbed off on Allison." I saw his eyes widen slightly and soaked up his reaction, the smugness growing in my grin. "Now, why don't you be a good little boy and go and join in the practise. Otherwise I might have to tell daddy Argent about your not so secret relationship with his daughter." A low growl came from Scott and I began to chuckle.

"God you're a bitch," Stiles mumbled, but I caught it with my hearing. My smugness dropped, and my face turned to a glare as I wheeled towards Stiles. Before either could react, my hand was around the back of Stiles' neck, claws forming and digging into his skin. "Ow, ow, ow!" Stiles began to groan in pain as I forced him to hunch over and I leaned down to whisper in his ear, knowing full well Scott could hear me too.

"Listen you little piece of nothing. I finally have power. That means I get to act like everyone else who has it. You know your crush Lydia, she's the real bitch. She had power once. Now I'm taking it, piece by piece, and soon, I'll take her life." I felt a hand land on my shoulder, claws threatening to break through the skin. I looked back to see a warning glare from Scott, eyes dimly glowing. My irritated and angry glare lifted and I began to smile at Scott, sporting a calmer version of the face I'd just been wearing. "Careful, Scottie. It's a full moon tonight, we wouldn't want you to lose control and do something you'd regret." At my words he seemed to realise what he was doing and released his hold on my shoulder while I kept mine on Stiles. "Now me, I don't have that problem." I dug my nails further into Stiles neck making him hiss in pain. "I've been treated like crap my whole life. As far as I'm concerned, I think it's time for a little pay back." I let my eyes begin to glow, threatening Scott with them before I shoved Stile forwards, releasing my hold on him. He toppled forward, going head over heels and landing in a heap on the row below.

I knew there were several eyes on the three of us now, especially after clumsy Stiles collapsed and fell over. I ignored them all, just as they all did to me and kept my eyes on Scott as the glow quickly vanished before anyone could see. "Stay out of my way, Scott. We wouldn't want Allison to have to attend another funeral this week." I shot him a sweet smile once more and continued to do so as Coach shouted at Scott and Stiles to get down to the field, so they could get started.

Everything went well for the most part after that. The team ran the drills with Scott playing in goal. But for some reason he just ran out every time, tackling players and sniffing them. Then it dawned on me what he was doing. He was looking for the new Werewolf. He was looking for Isaac. I got up to warn him, standing up straight, but it was too late. Isaac was next, and he'd already started running towards the goal. Scott ran at him and both collided with an outburst of pure force before both hit the ground. I watched as the two Werewolves looked at one another, glowing eyes meeting. I thought, how much worse can it get?

Then I saw the police walking onto the field, heading straight for Isaac. I pulled out my phone and called Derek.


	9. The Pull of the Full Moon

When the bell went to signal the end of class, I was already waiting outside the classroom door. It opened, and a few students came out before I found who I was looking for. Scott looked up and stopped, leaving enough room for other students to file out behind him, grumbling rude remarks as the slid past him. My new normal, perky, teasing attitude was gone. There wasn't time for games. Even now I could feel the effects of the moon washing over me. Throughout the day I'd been getting more and more agitate, and it wasn't helping that Isaac had been locked away in the school for questioning and I couldn't do a thing about it. I could sense his need for help, his fear and all I could do was go from class to class until now. I'd had no choice but to follow my Alpha's orders, no matter how much I hated them. But at least now he had me doing something useful.

I motioned for Scott to follow me and I started to walk. It took him a moment, but eventually he began to follow me, sighing as he did. When he caught up to my side, he leaned over, whisper shouting, "What is going on, where's Isaac?"

"The police are moving him," I answered simply as we rounded a corner, a fire escape door coming into view just ahead that would lead us to the parking lot.

"Moving him? Where?!" Scott continued to hiss as he walked along side me, just able to keep up with my strides.

"Into a jail cell I'd imagine," I snapped with a glare his way, flipping my hair from my face and deliberately whacking him in the face if it. Looks like I did still have a bit of teasing attitude in me. Or maybe it was anger, it sounded like anger, and I could see the glow from my eyes reflecting in Scott's shocked ones. Looks like I had even less time than Derek and I thought.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked as we reached the door.

"No," I snapped once more, slamming the palms of my hands against the handle of the door. The thing flew open so fast it almost came flying back to meet me in the face. The only reason it didn't was because I kicked it back before it could. Even went as far as to growl at it, my canines tingling from within my gums.

"Will you stop it," Scott hissed, grabbing my shoulder and turning me around. That then quickly moved onto me taking a swing at him, briefly wolfing out as he stepped back to avoid my fist. He may have avoided that, but I was then on him like a tidal wave, leaving him no room to escape. I may be questioning how much control I have right now, but I had enough to use the training Derek had been imbedding in me over the last week or so. Before I knew it, I had his arms pinned against the wall and was growling in his face. His own Werewolf features beginning to come out in response to not only me, but the looming full moon.

"Enough."

The fight left me in an instant. For a split second I felt the fight for control inside me. My Alpha vs the full moon. My Alpha won out, and when he ordered me to let Scott go, I did. "You both all right?" Derek asked, eyes moving between the two of us. Scott had managed to pull himself back, me, I was still wolfed out, breathing laboured as my gaze remained lowered. Fully aware I'd messed up.

All I'd had to do was get through the day, get Scott, bring him to Derek, and not let the full moon get the better of me. And in the home stretch I'd lost it all and attacked Scott. I think I'm finally starting to realise what the whole deal is with this full moon. But seeing as the moon isn't even in the sky yet, and I'm already losing control, I can't help but wonder if I'll ever be able to control myself on the full moon. Then again Scott isn't looking so bad. Although during that first second when I attacked him, I'd seen his wolf side come out. Maybe it was just a time thing, or maybe Scott was my best case scenario. Being able to get through the day but still needing to be chained up at night.

"Dylan," Derek's voice broke through my thoughts, and my head finally lifted to meet my Alpha's green eyed gaze. It was hard, but in it I could see sympathy, comfort and even a bit of guidance. "Focus on your anchor. Remember." I nodded, closing my eyes and envisioning Erica. Trail and error had taught me to avoid the memories of when we were sad. Even though we'd been together, we'd been mad at the world, and that anger triggered my shift. I had to really focus on the peaceful happy moments to shift back. It usually took a few seconds, but since I was fighting the full moon too, it was almost two minutes before I returned to normal, still clutching the crescent moon locket in my hand when I did.

"Sorry," I apologised instinctively, releasing my hold on the locket around my neck.

"It's all right," Derek reassured me. "It just means we're going to have to chain you up now, rather than later. Come on." He nodded towards his parked car and I made my way around to the passenger side, the feeling of disappointment never leaving me. God how I hated it, wished I didn't have to feel it. But I had let my Alpha down. I assumed it was the full moon, amplifying everything Werewolf about me, even my connection to my Alpha. Derek had explained I'd naturally listen to him, follow him, want to protect him, but that I was still my own person, with thoughts and feelings and if I ever wanted out the Pack I could leave. It was just that in leaving the Pack I would basically be putting a bullseye on my back. That night the Omega was killed still haunted me.

"You too, Scott," Derek ordered. I looked up, hand on Derek's car door, staring over the roof as I watched Scott and Derek face off. Alpha vs Beta, possibly even Omega. It was complicated. It was like Scott was in the pack, but not. Derek wanted him in, that much was clear, but Scott seemed to be fighting it. Probably because he was still with Allison and didn't want to be seen picking sides. Even though he was by being with her.

"I'm not going with you. This is all your fault," Scott snapped angrily.

My eyes widened, brow lifting at Scott's accusation. Part of me wanted to jump in and defend Derek, but another part of me wanted to see him snap Scott in two. He didn't however, even if he could. Instead he stood his ground, staring back at Scott, almost demanding respect. At least I thought that until he said, "I know that."

"Wait, what?!" I said a little too loudly from the car. I quickly quietened down when Derek looked my way, even if his gaze was friendly enough. I just felt like I'd stepped out of line or something. It had to be the full moon. God this thing was really starting to piss me off. And just like that I could feel hair beginning to grow in places it shouldn't. I grabbed a memory of me and Erica and thankfully managed to fight off the shift. Hopefully I'd get this full moon business under control soon. I'm not sure I can go through this every month for the rest of my life.

Turning back to Scott, Derek continued with, "I know this is my responsibility, and I'm asking you for help. Now come on." It was probably just his gruff nature, but I was sure there was a hint of Alpha authority in his voice just then. But even if there was, Scott wasn't giving in.

"No, actually I've got a better idea. I'm gonna call a lawyer. Because a lawyer might actually have a chance at getting him out before the moon goes up," Scott argued.

"Not when they do a real search of the house," Derek countered firmly. I could only imagine what he was referring too, but I was certain it related to the beatings Isaac's dad was giving him. Undoubtedly Derek knew more, probably having done some background research into him before turning him. Suddenly I found myself wondering how much he knew about me before offering me the bite. Had he been following me prior?

"What do you mean?" a clueless Scott asked. By this point I'd worked out he was coming with us, whether he wanted to or not. If it came down to it, I imagined Derek would use his Alpha status to make Scott come. So I opened up the car door and pushed the front seat forward, climbing into the back as I waited for my fellow wolves to join me.

As it turned out, I was right and Scott did end up coming with us. It hadn't take much more for Derek to convince him and once they were both in Derek took us to his lair, the place he'd been using to train both me and Isaac. He made Scott wait in the car though, while he took me down into the building.

Halfway down the stairs I began to twitch, my eyes glowing uncontrollably. At that point he took my arm forcefully and ordered me to keep going. I fought the initial order, the wild wolf bursting out briefly, before Derek and his Alpha red eyes put me back in my place. I continued down after that and sat inside the subway car at the back of the room. I was shaking the whole time, every hair on my body lifting on edge. Even with Erica at the forefront of my mind, and my locket tightly grasped between my hands, I was losing control. The full moon was just too much for me to bear. Thankfully it didn't take Derek long to get me chained up in the carriage. I gave a few experimental tugs against the chains, using as much strength as I dared to without losing control. The more I tapped into my Werewolf powers now, the more I risked losing my mind all together.

Once Derek was then assured I was secured, he left with Scott, promising he'd be back as soon as he could. From then on I was on my own for the rest of the night. It all became a sort of blur after a while, coming in and out of conscious thought. I was aware of what I was doing, but I had no control. I was just a wild animal running on instinct, thrashing about as I tried to escape and hunt whatever I could. I'd completely wolfed out by this point, the moon presumably haven risen in the sky. I could feel it, pulling out the beast within, forcing down everything human about me while also pulling up the animal to the surface.

It was only after the moon passed its apex that I finally started to feel some part of me return. And I owed it all to Erica. During one of my unconscious trips while I wolfed out in the dark gloomy subway, I drifted back to a memory. A distant memory. A happy one. It was of me and Erica, when I was six and she was five. We'd spent the whole day in our pyjamas, hiding in our house like we always did. We'd found this one song we couldn't get enough off, playing it over and over, during breakfast, lunch and dinner. It drove our parents mad, but we didn't care. We just danced to it all day, in every room of the house. We'd even stayed up late, dancing on my bed until finally we passed out from sheer exhaustion. I'd completely forgotten about it, but suddenly I found that whole day playing back before me and I couldn't help but smile at the young me and Erica as we just laughed, unaware of the wold that was waiting to crush us.

Then when I came back, I found myself back in control. I was still wolfed out, unable to shift back, but at least I was no longer behaving like some savage beast. I was me again. The rest of the night was all about Erica, reliving old memories and smiling to myself as I focused on her and all the times I'd seen her smile. I had no idea how long that lasted, or at what time I gained control once more, but at some point Derek walked in, surprised to see me just sitting there, though fully wolfed out.

Unfortunately, his arrival broke my concentration, which had been a lot deeper than I realised, and suddenly I was back to the mad hairy laid act. He managed to stop it though, letting out a fierce growl that had me scurrying in on myself as I whimpered away, shielding myself from the Alpha I'd angered. It was only later I realised he'd done it so that he could get in to chain up Isaac next to me. He too was wolfed out, and the rest of the night consisted of us thrashing around growling angrily at one another while Derek just watched. Waiting in case either of us suddenly escaped and he needed to pin us down.

Eventually though, the night did end, and I awoke to find my cloths torn by my own hands and completely exhausted. The experience had taken far more out of me than I ever thought possible. Derek seemed oddly proud of me though, even Isaac a little bit. Though before I left he explained to me that Isaac was now a wanted fugitive and would be staying with him for the foreseeable future. I was told to act like I didn't know anything, which was hardly surprising but promised to do so all the same. I also made sure Isaac had my number in case he needed someone other than Derek to talk too.

I thought about asking Derek then. About Erica and the bite. The topic we'd been dancing around for a while now. But before I could muster the strength to ask him he sent me on my way, telling me to keep my distance over the weekend unless instructed by him. So, Erica's bite was going to have to wait, again. If I didn't feel horrible from the after effects of the full moon, I certainly did on the walk home. I was letting her down, the one person I never wanted to fail, and the gap between us was growing. She was still barely speaking to me and I could see she was getting jealous of me, or at the very least suspicious. I hated it, hated this rift between us. I wanted my sister back, wanted to be on the same level again.

So when I got home, I made myself a promise, since Derek didn't need me for the whole weekend, I was giving Erica all that time. Whatever she wanted, it was hers this weekend. Because come next week, she was getting that bite. Even if I had to clamp Derek's mouth down on her myself. She would become like me, she would feel like me, and we'd both be powerful finally.


	10. Erica's Turn (Pt 1)

It had been such a good weekend. Derek never called once, except for the single check up which I was fine with. The rest of the time was all dedicated to Erica, and she'd loved. I loved it too, seeing her smile as we did whatever she wanted. Whether it was watching her favourite movie, talking about her crush on Stiles, playing some of our old games. It was brilliant. I felt like the old me again, which wasn't as bad as I might have once thought. Since turning I'd been missing this, my sister, our bond. I had this awesome new life and out look but it still felt so hallow without Erica in it. I needed my sister and once I convinced Derek to offer her the bite, everything would be perfect.

There was however, one hiccup over the weekend. When I was getting ready for bed one night, I noticed Erica's medication. It hadn't been touched. I knew why, the symptoms were horrible. Anxiety, acne, weight gain, the inability to get a decent nights sleep. The list went on. Not the kind of thing a teenage girl needed to put up with. But when she stopped taking her medication, that was when the seizures started. I tried to talk to her about it but she shut me out, so I dropped it instantly, not wanting to ruin our weekend. I thought surely she could go a few days without it, at least until I talked to Derek.

The guilt I then felt on Monday was indescribable. Part of me knew what had happened before it even did. The hairs on the back of my neck rose and then I felt it. Something in the air maybe, a tingle along my skin. It was hard to explain. But I knew it was related to Erica, and I knew it was something bad. For that reason alone, I was out my seat as if a gun had just gone off. The teacher had called after me but I ignored her, as well as the odd boy that tried to earn brownie points by faking concern. I didn't care about any of that, my only concern was Erica. I raced through the corridors of the school, running all the way to the other side before skidding into the gymnasium. That's where I saw her, convulsing in Scott's arms.

It took everything I had not to tear him apart just then, to unleash my inner beast and destroy him for something that probably wasn't even his fault. But I needed someone to blame and I couldn't blame myself, not until Erica was safe. My psyche couldn't take it. So instead I shoved Scott away, knocking him back into the crowd that had formed around my sister. I took hold of her, trying to see if I had some magical Werewolf power that could help her, anything. Nothing happened though, and it hurt. Hurt like hell, that while I'd been having the time of my life she'd still been suffering, and feeling all alone.

"Erica? Erica, it's me. I'm right here, okay? You're going to be okay. Erica?" I whispered to her, as if that would bring her out of it. Even though I'd dealt with several of Erica's seizures personally, I suddenly found myself with no idea on what to do. The guilt was stopping me from thinking straight and I was panicking and fear was taking over. The sheer idea of hurting Erica with my forming claws was the only thing keeping my Werewolf side at bay. Finally I looked up, finding the crowd of students, including Scott, Stiles and Allison, all staring back. "Don't just stand there!" I cried out, my true desperation coming out. I didn't care how it made me look, I didn't care if this knocked me down a social peg. I just needed someone to help her. Even if it cost me everything I'd earned over the last week or so. "Call an ambulance!"

Most of them just stared back, like sick vultures enjoying the show. Waiting for her to die so they could feast on the story and earn themselves some popularity points by being one of the few to see my sister die. I wanted to kill them all. The only reason I didn't was because three of them actually did something. Stiles had the sense to yank his phone out his pocket, while Allison ran out, saying something about getting the Coach. Scott knelt down on Erica's other side. When he went to take hold, I pulled her against me, growling at the boy.

And yet there was nothing but sympathy and concern in his eyes. He truly did just want to help, but the protective big sister inside of me refused to let him. No one else could be trusted, and Scott was just putting on a show so that he could hurt us both later. "Dylan," he said quietly, my piercing blue eyes clashing with his peacefully brown. "She's going to be okay. I caught her before she fell." He motioned to the climbing wall nearby and I glanced over.

_Oh God! She'd fallen!_ Tears cut at my eyes and I looked down in horror, Erica still convulsing uncontrollably in my arms. If it hadn't been for Scott, she might well be dead, or at the very least badly injured. And all because I hadn't made her take that damn medicine. I'd let it slip because of the fun we'd been having. I'd almost caused her death…

I was trembling, my lower lip shaking as I started down, no longer seeing my paralysed sister but a mangled corpse, broken and twisted after the fall. The next thing I knew the paramedics were pulling me back and carefully carrying my sister from the room. They were about to leave when Scott pointed out I was her sister. They asked if this was true and when I nodded they brought me along too, loading me into the back of the ambulance with her.

Once I was allowed to hold her hand, I never let go until we reached the hospital. From there the doctors took over, taking her into an isolated room. The seizure had ended before we arrived at the hospital, but the experience had completely knocked Erica out and the doctors needed to know what had caused it. All they would tell me was they were running tests and it was driving me crazy. Mum and Dad were no help, useless as always. Thankfully Erica's regular nurse, Mrs. Melissa McCall gave me an idea of what was going on when she went by. She told me they'd narrowed it down to Erica not taking her medication but were running a few more tests just to be sure. I confirmed this too her and she thanked me for telling her, saying she'd come and get me the second I was aloud to visit her.

After she left though I decided enough was enough. This was the last straw and refused to let Erica go through this again. Yanking the phone from my pocket, I marched over to a secluded corner of the waiting room and rang Derek. When he didn't pick up, I rang Isaac who did pick up, sounding rather soar. "Hey, Dylan. What's up?"

"Is Derek with you?" I demanded simply, glaring at the wall as if Isaac himself was stood there, blocking my view of Derek.

"Yeah, do you–"

"Put him on, now," I growled. When I audibly heard Isaac gulp, I knew I'd made my point. While he then handed the phone over to Derek, I glanced over to be sure no one was listening in on me. Also in case Melissa was coming back with news about Erica. When I heard Derek take the phone, I turned back to the wall.

"What is it?" Derek asked with all his usual charm. Normally, it probably would have been enough to deter me. It was his training voice, the gruff one he used when training both me and Isaac. Since the guy was a fugitive, and had nothing better to do than to hide out with Derek all day, the Alpha Werewolf had decided to use up all of Isaac's free time with training. Last time I'd heard from Isaac, he was considering turning himself in, just to get a break from Derek. He did like to push, and when he did he didn't appreciate us pushing back. It was life and death to him, and he wanted us to understand that. And I respected that, but right now Erica was my only concern.

"I need you to offer Erica the bite, now," I declared down the phone.

"I decide who I bite, and who joins the Pack," Derek replied, as if that was enough to close the matter. Normally, it might well have done, but not today, not after the reality trip I'd just been on. She needed this, and she needed it now, before she tried to go without her medication again and got herself killed. Hunters I could protect her from, but even as a Werewolf, I was powerless against seizures.

"You were willing to bite her before, when I asked you too," I snapped back, deliberately keeping my voice low as to not be overheard.

"That was before you successfully turned," Derek pointed out.

"What does it matter? You said the more Werewolves we have in the Pack the stronger we'll be. So why not just offer her the bite. You wanted to turn someone else anyway, what's one more?" He went silent at that, thinking it over. Even so, I could feel him glaring at me from the other side of town. I'd challenged him and he didn't like it. But I had to do it, for Erica, even if it did put me at the bottom of the Pack hierarchy. "Please, Derek. She's my sister. She's going through hell, just like I was before you helped me. She needs this. Heck, I need this. It's killing me to see her suffer. I'm living this new amazing life and she's still stuck in my old hell, only now she doesn't have me there to help her go through it. She deserves this. And I know I owe you everything already but please, help her. I'll do anything." I hesitated before then saying the next bit, possibly just for the dramatic effect factor. "I'll sacrifice myself if that's what it takes. I'll leave the Pack, fend for myself, just as long as you give her what you gave me."

There was a long stretch of silence. So long I almost thought he'd hung up on me, but then he spoke. "You don't need to be so dramatic. This obviously means a lot to you." My heart leapt for joy but remained in between beats until he finished, just in case he was playing some cruel trick on me. "And you're right. The more Pack members we have the stronger we'll be. So yes, I will offer her the bite."

"Thank you," I said uncontrollably, tears pricking my eyes as I heard his answer. Finally, Erica would get what I had. A second chance. A better life. Power. I'd be able to be completely open with her again, and her with me. We'd finally get what we deserved, and we'd have each other, just like we'd always wanted. Finally, things would be as they should be for me and Erica. "Thank you so much, Derek," I croaked out, brushing away the tears.

"It's all right," Derek said softly, as if he knew I was crying for joy and was trying not to embarrass me. "Where is she now?"

"At the hospital," I answered.

"Is everything all right?"

"She just had a seizure… The bite will fix that, right?" I asked anxiously.

"Yes, the bite will fix that. Are you there too?"

"Yes, I'm here," I answered again, waiting for my orders.

"All right. I'll be there soon."

"Thank you," I said one more time, just in case he somehow didn't already know, then he hung up on me. I waited an hour then Derek arrived. I told him I still wasn't allowed to see Erica and he said he'd deal with it. He asked me to point out Erica's room, which I did, and then told me to find a quiet spot where they could talk. Once I found a suitable room I texted Derek and he told me to wait. I did, and a couple minutes later he wheeled in Erica who was lying down on a bed.

The second she saw me she sat up, eyes terrified by the figure pushing her into the morgue. I really shouldn't have been surprised, but it was a small detail that would be forgotten later on. "Dylan," she said nervously. I quickly made my way over to her, reaching her as Derek stopped the bed.

Enveloping her in a hug that she was more than happy to take, I did my best to reassure her. "It's okay. It's okay, Erica. I promise." I then pulled back, my eyes meeting hers, letting her see the happiness in them as I smiled softly at her. "Everything's going to be okay now." She still didn't seem certain, but she would understand soon enough. Soon she'd be a Werewolf and all this would be behind her.

"Side effect may include; anxiety, waking, acne, ulcerative colitis…yeesh," Derek sighed for behind me. I glanced back, seeing him holding Erica's prescription bottle. Obviously he was reading off the label, setting himself up for the pitch most likely. Not that I could see Erica turning it down, not when I'd already taken it. Heck, when we were little she used to copy everything I did. I started playing ballerina, so she wanted to start too. I started reading Harry Potter, so she wanted to read it too. I started poetry, so she wanted to too. The copying stopped as we became older and we just clung to each other out of safety, doing what we both wanted to save us from losing each other. For that reason I knew Erica would take the bite, because she wouldn't want to risk losing me. Which was the same reason why I wanted her to take it.

"Dylan…" Erica said, voice shaking as her terrified eyes locked onto Derek. I turned back to her, taking her hand for reassurance. "What's going on? Who is that?"

"It's okay, Erica. He's a friend of mine. His name is–"

"Dylan," Derek cut in in a level tone. I turned to him, the word of my Alpha overriding everything else. "I'll take it from here. Just stand back." I hesitated, not wanting to leave Erica's side because I knew it'd only scare her more. Last thing I wanted was for her to run out screaming and ruin her only chance of happiness. But at the same time, I didn't want to cost her that chance by disobeying Derek. So I looked back to Erica, giving her hand a squeeze of comfort with a smile, before I stepped back. Her hand reached out to follow but I was out of reach. I saw panic flash through her eyes and did my best to sooth her with my eyes alone.

"Let's talk about your seizures, Erica," Derek began with a friendly and disturbing smile as he stepped in between me and Erica. I didn't like it, being cut out like this, but I suspected Derek had a reason for it. So I decided to trust him and remained quiet, silently supporting Erica as best I could from behind my Alpha. "You get a warning, right before you have a seizure," Derek stated, as he leaned down on the bed Erica was sat up on.

I heard Erica gulped, and I did the same, feeling everything she was. I'd gone through a similar thing when Derek offered me the bite. He'd seemed so creepy but at the same time so friendly, and there was a fifty fifty chance he was either telling the truth, or lying. As it turned out, he was telling the truth. Hopefully Erica would come to the same conclusion as I did.

"It's…It's called an aura," Erica said nervously. "It's…It's like a metallic taste in my mouth." I'd heard her talk about it before, back when we used to talk about our individual problems with each other. I'd talk about my stutter for, like, three hours, and then Erica would talk about her seizures. We normally felt a lot better afterwards but it took a lot out of us emotionally, so I knew how much Erica dreaded and feared that taste, knowing what was to follow.

"You don't have to lie, Erica. What's it really taste like?" Derek pressed, receiving the answer Erica had only ever admitted to me once.

"It tastes like blood," Erica answered in true fright as she met Derek's gaze.

"What if I told you, that all of this could go away? The side effects, the symptoms, all of it. And what if all those things not only went away, but everything else, got even better?" Derek explained as he stood up, stepping back in line with me as we both watched Erica stare back in confused fright. Then it was as if something clicked in seeing me, noticing how I'd changed, how I'd lost all the worst bits about me and how I'd become a better person. I was the living embodiment of what Derek was saying.

"How?" Erica asked, voice still nervous, but curious, willing, hopeful.

"Let us show you," Derek said with a grin. Looking to me as I beamed back at him. We then both looked over to Erica and let our eyes shine. Derek's Alpha red, and my Beta yellow. "You've seen how your sister has changed. And it's all thanks to my bite. The bite of an Alpha Werewolf." Derek stepped forward once more, leaning back down on the bed as Erica remained cautiously still, almost hypnotised by the red glow of Derek's eyes. "I can bite you too if you want. You can become like Dylan. You can be strong and beautiful. You can have whatever you want. And you'll have a Pack of Werewolves just like you and Dylan willing to help you."

Erica didn't need to hear anymore after that. In fact she stopped Derek mid sale, saying yes. Derek made sure she knew everything first, about the full moon and the Hunters, and everything good and bad. But Erica was like me, she was willing to risk it all and I loved her for it. Then, once the diplomatics were over, I held Erica's hand as she let Derek bite her leg. He then gave us some time alone and I told her everything that had happened since turning and how soon she'd go through the same thing. Then we hugged and Derek took us home, where we waited for the bite to take effect. Spending the rest of the day in Erica's bedroom. Lying on her bed as we just hugged one another. Talking about everything we'd do once she became a Werewolf.


	11. Erica's Turn (Pt 2)

That morning I was rudely awoken, thrown out of bed by my own sister. I briefly heard her pounding feet as she ran across the floor, right before my face hit it. Luckily I was so dazed from sleep I barely felt a thing, although there was a slight tingle in my jaw as I pushed up off the floor. I climbed up to my knees, using the bed to help pull myself up, about ready to give Erica a piece of my mind for shoving me out of bed – when I saw her beaming back at me. "Look!" she squealed excitedly, nodding frantically down towards the pyjama leg she had rolled up. I frowned for a brief moment, confused before it hit me. The leg she was showing off was the one Derek had bit, and the bite had healed, meaning…

"It worked," I breathed out in relief. I'd never doubted it, but part of me must have been aware there was a chance she'd end up dead from that bite. Thus why I could feel the knot in my chest untangling. But it didn't matter now, because she was alive and we both had this incredible gift.

We then both started to scream excitedly, Erica jumping across the room as I leapt up over the bed. The two of us entangled in each others arms as we screamed for joy, jumping up and down and all over the place. Finally, we were back together, sisters once more and we had the world at our finger tips. At least it felt that way in that moment, and by God, we held onto that feeling for as long as we could. Holding each other and screaming for joy as we bid farewell to our old horrible lives, and hello to our new Werewolf empowered ones.

Eventually though, the moment did end, with our dad coming in and complaining about the noise. We apologised, but couldn't wipe the smiles of our faces. Not that he seemed to notice all that much. He did comment though, saying that it was nice to see us smiling. Apparently it'd been a while since we'd smiled like this. I had to agree, and it felt great to smile like this again.

Me and Erica then parted until breakfast. I'd mastered my morning routine by this point, able to get ready in just under half an hour. But since it was Erica's first time, I did a rush job on myself and gave her free rein over the bathroom. I also brought in all the cloths me and Mom had bought for her a while ago, so that she'd have plenty to choose from in terms of style. As for myself, I threw on a pair of torn jeans, my favourite boots, a red crop top, my leather jacket and as usual, my crescent moon locket. Not my flashiest outfit, but today was Erica's day and I didn't want to upstage her or steal her spotlight. She deserved all the attention today, and she'd get it. I'd make sure of it.

The rest of my morning was spent scribbling down some answers for the homework I'd forgotten, not that it really mattered to me anymore, now that I was a Werewolf. After that I waited down in the kitchen, joining Dad in yet another cooked breakfast. I'd been doing that a lot recently, which Derek explained was just me compensating for my Werewolf powers. Which apparently meant eating more, not that an ounce of it ever reached my hips. God being a Werewolf was amazing.

Eventually Erica joined me, sauntering in with as much confidence as I had after I first became a Werewolf. Although she managed to put on a bit more of a show, walking in and flipping her hair out of her face as she cast me wink. She kept up the sexy act for all of three seconds before she burst out into the biggest smile I'd ever seen. "So? What'd you think?" Erica asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

I really shouldn't have been surprised by what she was wearing. A white t-shirt, leather jacket that I'd picked out specially for her, an extremely short skirt and leopard print high heels that Mom had picked out for her. In all honesty I hadn't envisioned Erica wearing them, but when in Rome apparently. Although I could see she'd taken inspiration from me and my dress style, I was after all her big sister.

"You look incredible," I answered with a smile back to her.

"I know," Erica agreed confidently as she stuck a pose, looking down at her outfit.

"Very nice, Honey," Dad said, just barely glancing up from his morning paper. _Typical Dad_, I thought with a roll fo the eyes, letting Erica know to ignore him, just like he did with us most of the time.

"Erica, honey, you look fabulous!" Mum cried as she rushed over to get a better look, making Erica blush. "And you're wearing the leopard print heels, I knew you'd look good in them. I said so didn't I, Dylan."

"You sure did," I agreed, before placing my last fork full of food into my mouth. Smiling as I hummed in agreement when both my mom and sister looked my way.

"I'm just glad you two are finally starting to come out of your shells," Mom said before she descended into a motherly ramble about us growing up and how our bodies were changing and how we had to cherish this time of our lives and blah, blah, blah, and so on. I tuned out for most of it, chewing my last mouthful exceptionally slowly just so I had something to do. Poor Erica was stuck next to mom, bobbing her head along as she laughed appropriately and hummed along. But even our embarrassing mother couldn't take away Erica's smile. Not today.

"Well, that's lovely, Mom, but we'd better get going or we're going to be late," I cut in when I finally swallowed, unable to take anymore of my mother. That and I didn't want to risk her tarnishing Erica's perfect first day as a Werewolf. So before she could continue with her motherly speech, I grabbed Erica, pulled her out and we shouted goodbye before heading out to the car.

"So, where are we going?" Erica asked with an excited smile as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"School, obviously," I said as I started the engine.

"Seriously? What happened to skipping school and having some sister fun?" Erica pouted.

"Well, last time I suggested it, you said you wanted to go to school," I pointed with with a smug grin.

"All right, fine, I'm sorry," Erica said in a sarcastically dramatic apology that made me laugh. "Now come on, you owe me a sister day away from school."

"Agreed, and I promise I'll give you that as soon as possible," I said, before reaching into my pocket and pulling out my phone, showing her the text from Derek. "But we've got a little job to do fist." She leaned over, reading the text message. It was just a few lines asking Erica to make a big entrance and to make sure Scott saw her. So basically what we'd been planning to do anyway, only to make sure Scott saw, just like he had with me. And since it'd come from our Alpha, we had to do it, regardless if we suddenly felt like skipping school and having a sister day.

"All right, fine," Erica sighed, falling back against her seat, like she was some big Hollywood actress that was too good for the job. It made me laugh, knowing it was partly an act, but also because I just found it cute. My laughter was pretty infectious though, so Erica's act quickly collapsed and she started to laugh too, showing off that smile once more.

"Come on, let's go and have some fun," I said before pulling out of the driveway.

A little while later we arrived at school, both climbing out before slamming our doors closed in sync. "So you've got it all planed out?" I asked, locking the car before we fell into step, heading towards the school with several sets of eyes on us. Neither of us paid them much attention though, just like we had before the bite. Before we'd done it to block out their mean words and cruel laughs, but now we were secretly soaking up their looks of awe, while we shoved them all aside – because none of them mattered more than we did to each other.

"It's not exactly the great escape here," Erica pointed out with a raised brow.

"You're hilarious," I replied dryly, taking in her grin before I returned it with my own. "Just remember, to make sure Scott and Stiles notice," I reminded her as we climbed the short set of stairs up to the double doors.

"Oh, I hardly think that's going to be a problem," Erica said as we each pushed open a door. We each gave enough force so that when they opened they banged off the walls as we walked in. All the heads turned and more than half the jaws dropped. Not for me, obviously, most of the school had gotten used to the new me by now, so my entrances din't capture nearly as much attention as they once did. However, this time I had Erica, the new and improved Erica that caught everyone's eye. There was no longer just one smoking hot Reyes. There were two.

Sharing a smug look with Erica, the two of us began to strut through the corridors, letting each and everyone of them stare at us as we went by. It made me feel like a model, and Erica most likely felt the same too. It felt like everything was in slow motion, wind blowing perfectly to let our hair flow. Light shining on us just right and bringing out all our glorious features and beauty, which none of them had seen before. Well, they all saw it now, just like in those Hollywood movies. Only this time, it was real.

All too soon we reached the cafeteria and I stepped out in front of Erica, hand risen as I halted her. "Remember, get Scott and Stiles to notice you," I reminded Erica once more, just to make sure the sudden popularity hadn't gone to her head.

Erica tilted her head, skeptical frown forming as she glanced over her shoulder, leading me to several students behind who were staring right at us both. "I don't think that's going to be a problem," Erica said with a delightful grin as she turned back towards me. And she was right, she had this all under control. Now all I had to do was stand back and enjoy the show.

"Go knock them dead," I said with a grin, stepping aside and gesturing towards the cafeteria entrance.

"Back in a mo," Erica said with a wink, blowing me a kiss before sauntering into the cafeteria.

Stepping over, I folded my arms, watching as Erica walked in, all heads turning her way as she walked by each and every table. I smiled, watching her enjoy her moment before my eyes then found her targets. Scott and Stiles, sat alone at a table, gobsmacked. My smile grew, before looking back over to Erica as she leaned over a table surrounded by boys, all of which were now staring at her like she was some holy angel. None could even form words to object as Erica reached over, plucking one of their apples, and taking a big juicy bite out of it. She chewed, nice and slowly, wiping the area around her mouth with her pinkie before then smiling at them all.

My smile couldn't help but grow, enjoying the show as the boys helplessly watched her, mesmerised by Erica's every move. This was what she dissevered after everything she'd been through. To be idealised like this. To be loved like this. And then she did what they'd all done to her and me a thousand times, she turned away. Throwing the apple over her shoulder, smiling to herself when she heard the boys behind her fighting for it.

When she looked my way I cocked an eyebrow, the two of us smiling between each other. Then once she was back by my side, I offered her my arm and she wrapped her own around it. A united front, like we'd always been. And just for good measure, I made sure to look directly at Scott and Stiles – along with Lydia who'd now joined them. Our eyes caught and I lifted my free hand, wiggling my fingers in a seductive goodbye before me and Erica sauntered off arm in arm.

"God that was fun," Erica sighed out in pleasure, doing her best to restrain herself from letting out the true joy she was experiencing.

"I'm glad," I said with a sincere smile to my sister. "And now we're almost done, come on." I lead the way, keeping my arm wrapped around Erica's, waving to the boys as we passed. Erica joined in, quickly catching on as we picked on the couples by blowing kisses to the boyfriends while leaving the girlfriends shrieking in horror. Being beautiful was so much fun, no wonder they were all bitches.

Our new Erica parade however didn't last as long on the way out. I knew full well that Scott and Stiles were following us. Coming to question us both and try to get some answers. Derek didn't want that, not yet at least, so even though it sucked to drag Erica away from the fun, I did.

Heading out one of the side doors, we arrived just in time to see Derek arriving, pulling to a stop at the base of the stairs in his car. The window lowered and he looked out, sun glasses hiding those green eyes as he smiled at us both. We both smiled back uncontrollable before skipping down the steps, two at a time. Once we reached his car, we ran around and I pulled open the door for Erica, pushing the passenger seat forward so she could get in the back.

However before she did, we both looked up and saw Scott and Stiles bursting through the doors, staring at us both as we smiled smugly back at them. Erica then climbed into the back and I climbed into the front, closing the door behind me. All three of us then looked out Derek's window, smiling at the two before the Alpha floored it and we raced out of the parking lot.

"Is every day going to be this good?" Erica asked from the back seat, in between me and Derek, the joy evident in her voice.

Derek smirked to her through his review mirror. "If you want it to be," Derek answered, before then letting out a charming bad boy smile towards me. It brought a giggle out of me before his eyes went back to the road.

"So where do you want me to drop you off?" He asked, clearly in a rare good mood after the show we'd just put on.

"Is that us done for today?" I asked, like a student would a teacher.

"Yep. You're free for the rest of the day. Provided nothing else turns up." He'd gone a tiny bit serious then. Oh well, his happy care free mood had been good while it lasted.

"Yes," Erica squealed out triumphantly from the backseat, promoting my smile to grow as I looked back into her excited brown eyes. "Sister day?" she asked eagerly.

"Sister day," I agreed as she squealed once more from the back seat, doing a little dance that at one point would have had people throwing their lunch at her. Now they'd probably join in or compliment her. Anything to please the new hot Erica and her sister.

"Do I want to know?" Derek asked, lifting an eyebrow above the rim of his glasses.

"Probably not," I answered with a grin.

He smirked back, shaking his head as he pulled over. "Here good?"

"Yeah, thanks," I said opening the door and climbing out once the car had stopped. Erica thanked him to – she went a little overkill, but she shut up once I yanked her away. "So what are you going to do then? Bite another of Beacon Hill's many teenagers?" I asked with a smirk, only half joking.

"I'm chasing down a few leads," Derek simply said, nodding for me to back away. I did, closing the door before then bending down so I could see him through the open window.

"You don't mean that literally…right?" Derek just smiled back, before revving his car engine and pulling away. He might have clipped me, had I not had my Werewolf reflexes and jumped back, watching from the sidewalk as the black camera vanished around the corner.

"Rude," Erica said with a little huff.

"He's the Alpha, he gets to be rude," I shrugged, turning to my sister with a 'what can you do' smile. "And besides, it's not everyday we get to do whatever we want and look this good," I pointed out with a grin as I gestured to my own body and Erica's. That brought a smile to her face, that turned feisty after looking us both up and down.

"But it can be from now on," Erica pointed out.

I grinned, the same feisty and cunning grin as my sister. "Damn, right."


	12. Sister Day

"Is it me, or did cheese burgers suddenly get a lot better?" Erica asked, looking at me from the other side of the table.

I shrugged, finishing the slurp I was taking out of my strawberry milkshake. "Guess it's part of the upgrade when becoming a Werewolf."

Erica began to smile, still chewing on her burger. "Seriously, is there any downside to his?" Erica asked sarcastically as she swallowed. "I mean…" she looked down, gesturing to her sexy self. "I get all this and there's no consequences?"

"Well…bar the Full Moons," I pointed out, trying not to ruin her mood.

Erica shrugged, still smirking away. "One night a month is nothing compared to the amount we've spent sulking together. And besides, we get to be chained up. That sounds so kinky," Erica said with a playful seductive look, raising her brow as she did, which made me laugh.

"I wouldn't tell Derek that. I doubt he'd appreciate it," I pointed out, before taking a couple of fries and throwing them into my mouth.

"I don't know," Erica pondered, leaning back in her seat as she twirled a blonde lock of hair around her finger. "I think I could tempt him to–"

"I'm begging you, don't finish that sentence," I said with a grimace, almost gagging up my lunch.

Erica eyed me then, eyes lighting up like the popular teenage girl she was turning into. She was still in the cocoon phase, able to be more true to her new self because she was with me. But soon she'd be like this all the time, even when I wasn't around. And while I could foresee it getting annoying, today, nothing either of us did could annoy the other. Today was our sister day, a celebration of our new Werewolf empowered lives.

"Do you have a thing for Derek?" Erica asked noisily.

I scoffed, muttering a, "No," as I munched on some more fries. It made Erica laugh, leaning over the table as she grinned. Having found something new to playfully tease me about. We never used to tease each other all that much. We got it bad enough from everyone else that doing it to each other would only lead to us lashing out unnecessarily. But now that we were evolving into our new powers and popularity, we could afford to tease each other a little from time to time. It was a nice change of pace to be honest.

"Oh my gosh! You totally do!" Erica squealed excitedly.

"No, I don't," I said more firmly, fixing my sister with a look that told her it was not true. Derek was my Alpha, the one who'd given me the best gift I'd ever receive in my entire life. A chance at a fresh start, and at such an early stage in my life. And he'd extended that gift to my sister, the most important person in my life. I could never repay him for all of that.

But in spite of that, I didn't have romantic feelings for him. Was he attractive? Hell yes. Would I go out with him if he wanted? Yes. And not just because he was my Alpha. However, that was really all he was to me right now. My Alpha. I was grateful towards him, probably always would be, but everything else I felt came from that Beta-Alpha bond. He was my leader, my teacher. Romance just didn't come into it. Besides, with all I had now, I wanted to play around for a bit, before actually doing something serious like falling in love. It was way to early in my new life for that.

"Fine, don't admit it," Erica sighed in dramatic depression. I grinned at her pouty act, still finding it cute even with her make over. "I'm just saying, you know who I'm crushing on," Erica muttered as she played around with her fries, before placing a couple into her mouth.

It was true, I did know who she had a crush on. It was the same guy she'd been crushing on ever since she could understand what crushing on someone meant.

I reached over, placing my hand on hers and smiled as she looked over at me. "Erica, trust me. The second I start crushing on anyone the way you crush on him. You'll be the first to know." She appreciated that, and smiled, like the old Erica would. Timidly but full of heart.

"That said, if you start ditching me to go out with him, I'll be pissed," I playfully warned her as I leaned back. She laughed, so I continued to tease. "I mean, I know you're smoking hot now, so he'll be putty in your hands, but come on. Let's have some fun first."

"What do you have in mind then?" Erica asked, playing along as she leaned down on the table, sipping at her smoothy.

"Well…neither of us have ever been to a night club," I pointed out with a hopeful look to her.

"We live in Beacon Hills," Erica pointed out with a deflating look. "We don't have night clubs."

"All right, fine, a dance club – whatever, look, I just want to go to club of some kind, because we've never done it before and we should," I rambled out.

"Sure, sounds like fun. And the perfect way to end our Sister day," Erica said as he grin broadened.

"And a perfect place to take advantage of our new hotness," I pointed out, lifting my cup. Erica let something that sounded like a growl of agreement, before lifting her own cup and tapping it against mine.

We then finished our lunch before hitting the mall. We spent a good few hours there. Going from shop to shop as we experiment with cloths, accessories, cosmetics…boys. Though the boys came towards the end, as we tried to find out where the clubs were and which ones were _hot_ right now. It was easy enough to find out, what with several groups of boys offering to escort us. We were happy enough to let them, but we had no plans to stick with them once we got inside. They weren't family, and this was a night for family.

We charmed the boys into getting our tickets for us, but the second we got past the bouncer, we vanished into the crowd, using the other boys that stared at us as shields to protect us from the ones that had got us in. However, when the original group of boys got insistent, another group asked if there was a problem. I might have given the most subtle of implications that there was, and then the two groups went out side. A few minutes later, the second group returned with a few bruises, cuts, and red tinted fists.

That was the kind of power we now held. It might have been brought on by the Werewolf bite, but it was something that had always been inside me and Erica. Only now we had the confidence and the ability to use it. And we were obviously using it well, judging by the the attention we were getting. It was the VIP treatment, and we were loving it. We were at the centre of everybody's attention. The boys crowding around, just to get a chance of catching our attention – even if only for the briefest of moments, while envious girls glared daggers at us from across the room. We took it all in. Their hormonal love, they're dramatic hatred. Everything we'd been denied back when we didn't exist, pre-Werewolf bite.

It was all so glorious. Going from one boy to the other, making out with them, using them to satisfy my own pleasures. At one point I would have given anything to have my lips against another boy's, now I had them lining up for my temporary affection. For now I was willing to hand it out, give them a taste before shoving them aside and moving onto the next. They each got a second, maybe two if they were really good. But my rejection just made them want me more, fighting to try and win me back. I used to hate the girls that boys would fight over, but now that I am one of them, I can see the attraction. Smiling away as fight after fight broke out. One boy accusing another of stealing me when it had been my choice all along. They were all such adorable little toys, and I'd only just begun to peek into the chest.

I caught glimpses of Erica throughout the night. We were always close by, my nose told me that, but the sheer mass of bodies around us meant we lost sight of each other every now and then. Even so, her smile never left her, which meant mine left me. I saw her grinding from in between two boys at one point, hair swishing back and forth as she danced away to her heart's content. No one was teasing her about her dancing now, and because of that fact alone, she seemed to get better, much like me. Maybe it was another hidden Werewolf power, just something else to love about our new lives.

We regrouped after a while, the enjoyment of boys flocking to us like moths to a flame wearing off. We grabbed ourselves some drinks, which some very nice boys bought us after a little flirtation, then we set out to have another kind of fun. We'd both sampled a taste of it in the hallways at school, but now we were ready for the real thing. We found a group of couples, all hanging out together, and inserted ourselves. It was easy enough, the boys were hardly resistant to our charms and looks, no matter how much their girlfriends complained.

First they told us to leave, but the boys insisted we stay. Then after a little touching, stroking, seductive whispering and the girls were shouting at us to mind our own business and get lost. The boys came to our defence though, like good little soldiers. And that was when we went in for the kill. I wrapped myself around one, Erica the other, and we proceeded to kiss them. The girls shrieked in outrage. The other boy went to question his friends' actions, but he quickly shut up after I pulled him over to join us, capturing him with a kiss. And then we backed away, leaving three couples arguing and savouring the sight. We knew each and everyone of them, all of which had tormented us in someway or another. None had recognised us, none had cared, not until we became what we are now. And for that they deserved this.

We had a lot more fun that night with everyone at the club, but then Erica took me aside and said she wanted to go home. I didn't argue, I'd had my fill of fun, and so had she. We waved goodbye, blowing kisses to all the boys as we departed, and more than half the club bid us farewell with a heartbreaking sigh. It was almost enough to make me consider staying, almost. But even if I had considered it, I wouldn't have. Erica wanted to go, and I wanted to remain with her for the rest of the day, so I left too. We returned to the school, collecting our car before heading for home. It was half one by the time we got home, our parents already in bed.

We'd texted Mom earlier to let her know we'd be out late. She'd been thrilled. Dad hadn't cared, or rather there was no response from him, but I took that as him not caring. Part of me thought one of them might have stayed up until we got home, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Now that we were the 'going out' type, they didn't seem to care what we did – at least for now. I'm still of the mind set that they're planning on kicking us out once we turn eighteen or leave school. Erica's a bit more hopeful, but I'm under no illusion about our nothing but business father and pushy mother.

I expected Erica to head up to her room, but instead she grabbed me and took me into the living room. "You want some popcorn?" she asked, letting go as she headed into the kitchen, leaving me dazed and confused in the middle of the living room.

"What?" I called after her, once I unfroze.

"I'm going to get some," Erica then said offhandedly, as the sound of the microwave starting up floated into the room. "You can pick the movie tonight." I was so confused by what she was saying. It was the middle of the night and we had school tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, I'd done my fair amount of skipping school recently, but as the older sister I wasn't going to let Erica get as reckless as this. The only time I'd stayed up late since turning was if Derek needed me. Otherwise I had my fun during the day and went to bed like normal. Thinking like that made me wonder how little I might have actually changed.

"Hold on," I began, marching through to the kitchen where Erica was leaning against the counter, watching the microwave like it was already playing our chosen movie. "You want to stay up and watch a movie now?"

"Yeah," Erica said with a soft smile, much like that of the old Erica – the pre-bite Erica. "It's what we always do," she pointed out as she looked over at me with a shrug. And I don't know why, but it made me smile. A smile I'd probably used pre-bite, just like Erica. It was nice seeing this side of her, my little sister. It showed me the bite hadn't completely changed us, just helped us like Derek said it would. We'd made the choice to be better, but that didn't mean we had to lose ourselves and become something unrecognisable. We could be the new powerful dominant Werewolves around everyone else. But when we were alone, we could let down that exterior and show each other what no one else would ever see again, unless we wanted them to. Our vulnerable sides.

"Okay," I said, smiling at my sister's soft tender eyes. "But we're still going to school tomorrow."

"Of course," Erica said in a cheerful voice as the microwave pinged, the popcorn complete. She took it out, pouring it into a large bowl that often sat on our laps. "But we can afford to be a little late, right?" Erica asked innocently as she finished pouring the movie treats.

I grinned at her. "Sure."

Erica chuckled, before disposing of the wrapper and taking the bowl in both hands. "So, what's your pick then?" Erica asked as we walked into the second living room at the back of the house.

"Twilight," I answered, to which Erica tilted her head back and groaned.

"Seriously, again? You've watched those movies a thousand times. And you've made me watch it with you half those times, if not more," complained Erica.

"All right fine, I'll pick something else," I chuckled as we walked into the room, scanning the shelf of DVDs for something we'd both like. I spotted something instantly, something we hadn't watched in a while, which was odd consider how much we'd loved it. "How about some pirates?" I asked, twirling around to showcase the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD – which if it were a book, would be torn apart at the spine because of how much we'd watched it.

"Yes!" Erica exclaimed as she dropped down onto the couch, already munching on the popcorn. "It has been far too long since we last watched that together."

"Agreed," I said, putting in the DVD before joining Erica and grabbing a handful of popcorn. We both removed our leather jackets, throwing them over the arms of the couch while we cuddled together, bowl of popcorn balanced in between our legs. For the first fifteen minutes of the movie, we just watched and ate popcorn, until I finally turned to look at Erica.

It took a moment for her to realise I was staring at her, then began to frown as she looked at me. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah," I said with a smile. "It's just nice to see you happy again."

"That Werewolf bite made you even more sappy than before," Erica teased with a grin, before I lightly shoved her.

"Yeah, well, yours made you mean."

"I'm sorry," Erica apologised sincerely.

"I know," I said, taking some more popcorn before we went back to watching the movie.

"I'll never be mean to you," Erica whispered, her head leaning on my shoulder, like she'd been doing since she was four years old. A sign she was either tired or depressed, and I knew it wasn't the latter. "Promise you won't leave me."

"You already know I won't."

"Just promise me…please," Erica pleaded, breaking her gaze from the TV to look up at me.

"Promise," I said with a heartfelt smile down into her young naive eyes. "It's you and me against the world, just like alway. Only now, we've got superpowers."

And that brought a grin out of my little sister. "Hell yeah we do."


	13. Dylan's Game, Erica's Crush

We went in late the next day. After our Sister Day – which turned into more of a Sister Night after you included the dance club and the late night movie viewing session – we'd needed the lie in. Mom had come in to check on us both when we hadn't appeared at breakfast, trying her best to get us out of bed and on our way. Sufficient to say, she didn't succeed. All she'd gotten for her efforts was a couple of groans and moans, and then when she hadn't backed off we'd both started growling and snapping at her. She'd been taken a back by that, and wisely backed off before leaving for work, which allowed me and Erica to get up at our own pace and show up as we pleased.

When we finally did show up it was nearing the end of the period and the one after that was a freebie before lunch. But with ten minutes to go, neither me or Erica saw any point in showing up to classes we were already passing. So we split up to go to our lockers, agreeing to meet up at the library for either a privet or group study session, depending on who was around, and who wanted to get to know us now that we were better looking.

I was in the middle of touching up my makeup when I caught a reflection in the mirror that hung from my locker. I began to smile, capping the lipstick before placing it my locker. "What do you want, Scott?" I asked casually as I made a little show of check myself out in the mirror. I knew it was vain, but I just couldn't get over the new me, plus it was a bounce to see Scott fight the urge to squirm and remain serious.

"I know Derek's planing on turning someone else. He turned you and Isaac before the full moon and now he's turned Erica. So just tell me who's next?" He asked, a serious edge to his voice that I had to admit was a bit of a turn on.

"You know," I began, turning around as I pushed my locker door closed with a single finger. I met his eyes, smirking as I stepped towards him, slowly, methodically, seductively. "If it really bothers you that Derek keeps turning people, you could always stop him by joining us."

"Who's next," Scott growled.

I laughed. "That's not going to work on me, Scott. Derek wants the Pack full. We've got one spot left. Now you can either fill it for us, or Derek can find someone else to replace you," I explained, going from teasing to serious, as my eyes darkened with my words.

"I'm not joining, Dylan. Now tell me, who is Derek going to turn next?" Scott demanded, now advancing on me.

It did little to intimidate me. He might have been a Werewolf longer than me, might even be stronger, but from what Derek had told me, I was more accepting of this than he was and far more embracive. While he'd tried to hold back his inner wolf, I was letting mine run free, and that gave me more power than he could ever hope to have at first.

"You know what Scott, I think I finally get you," I decided, folding my arms as my eyes narrowed on him. His serious glare on made me grin, seeing I was getting to him with my playful nature. "I think, the reason you don't want Derek turning anyone else, is because you liked being the only wolf in town. You liked having all this power to yourself. I mean, look at what it's done for you." I began to advance, and with each step I took, he took one back, feeling the weight of my words as I utter each sentence. "Captain of the Lacrosse team. One of the most popular guys in school. Speed and strength beyond comparison for any mortal. Senses a human being could only dream of. And a girlfriend – Oops, my bad. _Ex_-girlfriend."

At my last comment Scott stood firm, growling beneath his breath. Obviously I'd hit the right note, smiling smugly back at his flared nostrils. But it still wasn't enough, and I wasn't done making my point. "And before you got the Werewolf make over, you were…? That's right, a nobody. Barely anyone knew your name, you were sitting on the lacrosse bench gathering dust and suffering from asthma, was it?" His silence spoke volumes, though I gave him little room to speak, closing in and forcing him to take yet another step back as my voice darkened, painful memories resurfacing. "That was nothing compared to me and my sister."

"I don't care," Scott said halfheartedly, trying to get back to the matter of who Derek was going to turn. But instead I shoved him back, closing the gap between him and the lockers behind him. I pushed forward, my body going against his as my hands pressed against the locker behind him on either side of his head. Our faces so close, it would have been easy to steal a kiss. But I was enraged, and I needed to vent.

"Yeah, well I do, Scott," I growled. "Now you might have been a nobody, you might have been getting picked on by Jackson, but at least you still had friends and weren't totally invisible." I felt the tears began to prick at my eyes, but I refused to let them form. No longer would I shed tears for just anyone, least of all Scott. So I used my anger to squash them out long before Scott could see them. "Nobody knew who I was before Derek gave me this gift. Nobody cared. I was the butt of everyone's jokes and I had nothing, nobody. I came so close, Scott… So close to ending it."

"Dylan…" Scott said softly, in sympathy that made my blood boil. Sure, now he cared. He hadn't back then, he'd been like the rest, ignoring me and Erica every single day. Now that I had the bite, I was on his radar. I was on everybody's radar.

"But I never could. I couldn't leave Erica alone in this hell. Because like me, she had no one. All we had was each other. Until now, Scott. Now we have a Pack. Now we have power." I leaned in, whispering the last line, "Now everybody sees us."

I pulled away, grinning in triumph as I watched him turn from me to look down the hallway. I'd smelt her a mile off. I'd known exactly when she'd arrived and how much she'd seen. Because down the hallway, was were Allison was stood. Clinging to her books and staring longingly towards Scott and me.

With Scott still staring across at her, I turned, batting my eyelashes in a hello as I put on a mocking smile. The hurt in her eyes gave me such a rush as I watched her turn, trying to pretend it was nothing when it was so obvious that she was still in love with Scott.

"Whoopsie," I sang out, turning back to Scott as Allison walked away. I knew he wanted to go after her, wanted to comfort her, tell her this wasn't something she had to worry about, but he couldn't. Too many eyes. Which meant he was stuck at my mercy while Allison marched off, trying hard not to sniffle and let the Werewolves hear.

"You think she got the wrong idea?" I asked in mock sympathy, and the second Allison was out of sight, Scott turn his sights on me, his glare intensifying as he suddenly took hold of my wrists. He forced me back, but I fought, smiling as I took in the pleasure from our little game. I proved to be a harder fight than he thought, managing to push my way back into his personal space just long enough to have my hips brush his, before he shoved me back with a burst of force.

With me a safe distance back, he turned back down the hallway, to find Allison had already left. "Shame," I said in further mockery. He went back to glaring at me, which made it that much easier to smile, having riled him up so easily. "We didn't even get to the good stuff," I teased before backing away, flirtatiously waving goodbye before I sauntered off down the hallway to meet up with Erica.

As I left, I heard Scott punch a locker in frustration, and had to fight the urge to laugh. It was just so perfect, and Derek would be so happy to hear about it all. Though I apparently didn't need to tell Erica any of it, as when I turned the corner, I found her already there, grin at the ready as she leaned against the lockers. "Having fun?" Erica asked lightly, already knowing of course.

"How couldn't I, when Scott's such an easy target?" I chuckled, with Erica joining in before we began to walk towards the library.

"You're all right though?" Erica asked, voice growing concerned as she looked towards me, brushing her blonde locks aside so she could meet my eyes.

"Of course," I said brightly, but when her look didn't waver, I knew she'd heard more than I'd wanted her too. "How much did you hear?" I asked, sighing as if to say it wasn't as big a deal as it sounded. It had been a big deal though. But now thanks to the bite Derek gave me, my whole world was turning into sunshine and rainbows without a grey cloud in sight.

"Most of it," Erica admitted, gaze momentarily dropping before raising to meet mine once more. "But mainly the part about you almost ending it." There was a pause, as we took a few more steps in silence before she then asked, "Do you want to talk about it."

"Not…Not par… Not par-r-r… Not particu-lar-ly," I answered, feeling my stutter coming back in a moment of weakness.

"Sorry," Erica quickly said, placing her hand on my back as we stopped. She turned me to face her and stared into my eyes with her soft compassionate brown chocolate like eyes, while my own serene blue dropped blow her gaze, ashamed of what I'd nearly done. Because if I had gone through with it, I never would have been able to forgive myself during whatever came next. The idea of abandoning Erica and leaving her alone in this world was the single most guilt ridden thing I'd ever done. And that was just thinking about it, never mind how close I'd come during that one night, that night that no one had known about…and then that night when Derek had bitten me. At least then I'd made plans for Erica's future if I'd died. During that first time, it had been selfish.

"It's just I didn't know," Erica explained. "But I understand if you don't want to talk about, now, or ever. Just know that it doesn't change anything…except that I might be a tad more clingy from now on." That made me laugh and that in turn made Erica laugh. See, how could I ever think of leaving her, when she made my whole world better. She truly was the best sister I could have ever asked for. "You good?" she asked tenderly.

"Obviously," I said, shaking off the tears and whipping out my hair as I let a smile take over. "After all, you're looking at one hot, bad ass, Werewolf here." Another round of laughs in the quiet hallway, only to be interrupted by the vibration of our phones. As if knowing it was from Derek, our laughter faded out quickly, as we pulled out our phones to read the message. "Looks like our Alpha's picked out his next Beta," I said after reading the text.

"Yeah…but that Boyd guy?" Erica asked with an unsure frown.

"Come on, Erica. If we got the life improving Werewolf bite, then why shouldn't he. It's not like he's had it easy either," I pointed out. Erica mumbled an agreement, as she put away her phone. Boyd was much like Scott, in the sense that no one really bothered him, but at the same time he appeared to have no friends. He was isolated, alone, and it didn't seem to be by choice. He was big, strong, but otherwise he just vanished into the background that was high school life. Honestly, I forgot sometimes that I shared classes with him, but in most of those he always sat way behind me and at the back of the classroom. Our loneliness probably should have brought us together, but as it turned out it had only pushed us apart. Until Derek came along that is.

"Now, let's see…" I muttered, while reading over Derek's orders. Apparently Erica's text had just told her to find me and that I'd give her our instructions. "He seems to think that Scott and Stiles will figure it out," I explained, sharing a frown with Erica as I looked up to meet her gaze.

"Seriously?" Erica asked, hands going to her hips. "He thinks they're that smart. To find one person, out of thousands, that he could offer the bite to."

"I guess it's not that hard," I said out loud with a shrug. "Think about it, there's a chance of death involved. You have to be a certain type of person to take that chance. I reckon Boyd might just be one of those few people." I went back to reading our orders. "Okay, so he wants us to specifically follow Stiles if they split up, and to text him with updates."

"I don't see why this needs two of us," grumbled Erica as I put away my phone, grinning as I wrapped my arm around my baby sister.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to get plenty of alone time with Stiles, after you work your magic on him," I teased, only to get an eye roll from Erica.

For the next period Erica skipped her class to stay with me and watch Scott and Stiles. Both had the same class, and while we couldn't get in the room, we were able to wait outside and listen in on them. There was nothing out of the usual there, except Stiles tedious highlighting of a text book, something my sister seemed to find cute as she watched him through the door. However, while Erica was enjoying herself, I was bored out of my mind. I found myself wanting to get caught with Erica, just to make things interesting. Nothing happened though, and we made ourselves scarce before the end of class, that way it would be harder for Scott to notice our scents. As it was, when he left the room, he seemed to be in a hurry for something anyway, while Stiles went off in another direction.

That was when me and Erica had to split up, with her being more than happy to go after Stiles while I followed Scott. I kept my distance though, as not to be spotted or sniffed. I did actually have to pick up my pace though, as he practically ran towards the cafeteria. There he grabbed his lunch and sat down. I did the same…well actually I sat down at the other end of the room and asked the first boy that passed me by to get me my lunch. He obliged, and I let him and his friends sit with me while I kept an eye on Scott and they complimented me.

I half assed my interest in whatever they were saying, playing nice while my focus remained on Scott. Watching as he tapped his foot impatiently, eating while he waited. Then I saw why, as Allison sat down in the seat behind them.

Who needed Romeo and Juliet when you these two?

I laughed when Scott initially tried to explain to Allison that I'd been the one to make the move on him, and that he had in no way consented to it – or even liked it. Conveniently enough, it had been when someone in the group around me was telling a joke, so my ass was covered. Allison claimed she didn't care, but I could tell she did. Scott questioned her, but she pushed on, pointing out the impending battle that was coming. Hunters vs the Werewolves, and how she wanted Scott to stay out of it.

It was then that Erica joined me and the group warmly welcomed her before she explained she needed to talk to me in privet. They scattered at her command, finding themselves another table while Erica grabbed herself one of the boy's pudding, and thanked him by blowing him a kiss. He might have fainted then and there, had his friend not dragged him over to the next table.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching Stiles?" I pointed out, leaning back with my arms folded, frankly enjoying myself.

"I am," Erica countered, pointing over towards the hyperactive boy who was making his way through the cafeteria in the strangest way possible while Erica ate her pudding.

"I really don't know what you see in him," I said with a shake of the head, not that Erica seemed to care. She was watching Stiles like a hawk…or a teenage girl madly in love.

As it turned out, Derek was right, and the boys did work it out, realising that the table Boyd normally sat at, was empty. After that, the pair then grabbed their stuff and began to leave, coming up with a quick plan of action while me and Erica followed. It was agreed that Scott would go and check out Boyd's place of work, the ice rink, while Stiles would check out his home, in case he was sick. However, unexpectedly Stiles suggested that maybe they shouldn't act, and instead let Derek offer Boyd the bite. After all it had done wonders for Dylan and Erica, to which Stiles then described them both as, "Sensational." Erica had let out a little squeal at that, needing to take a breath as her cheeks flared up. I was happy for her, but too focused on our mission to express it. Though I was confident we'd be talking about this later.

It didn't take much for our hero Scott to talk him into helping him though, and the two left separately. Like we were supposed to, I texted Derek with an update. Telling him about how Scott and Stiles had worked it out, and how they were splitting up to search for Boyd. Derek responded quickly with orders and his plan. Me and Erica were to go after Stiles and incapacitate him, then join Derek, Isaac, and an already bitten, Boyd at the ice rink, where we would confront Scott. Needless to say, me and Erica loved this plan.

Since we had Boyd's home address – curtsy of Derek – we waited a minute before following Stiles. As it turned out, we probably should have given him a little longer, as we arrived just behind him, literally seeing Scott's sidekick running from his jeep and up to Boyd's front door. Although he wasn't the only one moving fast, Erica was opening her door before I'd even pulled to a stop behind Stiles' jeep.

"He's mine," Erica growled, half excited, half warning me not to intrude on her turf. I had no intension of doing so. With Scott it was fair play, like with anyone else in school, but I knew what Stiles meant to her. I'd mock, tease and try to provoke him, but I'd never flirt with him. For all intents and purposes, he was Erica's, even if he didn't realise it.

Once parked, I followed my sister. She waited for me, at least until I was behind her, and then stepped up towards Stiles. I remained behind her, allowing her to take this moment that she'd obviously been waiting for. The moment he finally saw her. He turned, jumping at the sight of Erica, and how close she'd gotten to him without him realising. He was obviously captivated by her. If the, "Oh – Wow!" that came out of his mouth didn't give that away, the fact that it took him a whole five seconds to look over at me did. For those five seconds he'd only seen Erica and she'd loved it, after being ignored for so long, her long time crush finally took notice.

But we had our orders from our Alpha, and they took priority, even over our own feelings, as Erica demonstrated. Whatever urge she was feeling inside, it was suppressed, seeing Stiles as Derek saw him. Someone who they needed to get out of the way. Even so, she was grinning away as Stiles continued to stare helplessly at her and her hotness. "What are you doing here, Stiles?" Erica asked sweetly.

What followed was a very long series of stutters with the odd word in between that ended in an unfinished sentence. It was probably one of the few times I'd seen Stiles speechless. I smirked, watching as he continued to babble off nonsense while his eyes remained locked with Erica's. This had been what she wanted for so long, and I was overjoyed to finally see her getting it. The bonus of seeing Stiles act like an idiot was just icing on the cake. However, Erica did eventually put him out of his misery by finishing his sentence.

"Boyd?" Erica asked, answering as to who Stiles was here looking for.

"Yes, yes, Boyd," Stiles agreed, nodding along in a very odd way. It made me frown in confused amusement, watching his head move up and down while his eyes remained still. It was kinda unsettling. Erica had apparently picked up on it too, as she slowly swayed from side to side, Stiles eyes moving with her while the rest of him remained perfectly still with his hands now on his hips.

"You know what you're doing right now that's kind of funny?" Erica asked with a giggle as she swayed, turning her head slightly as she did. Stiles shook his head like he was a dog, his tongue close to falling out like one too. I was fighting the urge to laugh, but I didn't want to ruin the moment for Erica. I was but an observer for now, letting her enjoy her real life fantasy.

"You're only looking in my eyes."

Stiles swallowed, before saying, "That's funny?"

"Well, yeah," Erica answered with a smile. "Because it's that kind of look, where you're trying not to look anywhere other than my eyes," Erica explained, before she began to step into his personal space. "But you want to, don't you? You want to a nice, long, hard…look," Erica drawled out seductively as she closed the gap between her and Stiles. Her lips practically against his, her body, right there for him to take if he wanted, and her waiting to see what he would do. As well as me, happily watching with my arms folded, as Stiles began to make faces. First one of resistance, then one of him bitting his lip. Then he did his best to seem like he wasn't interested, shaking his head as he tried to look to the side of Erica, or above her – not into her eyes and definitely nothing blow them.

"Not…really. No," he managed to get out, standing strong to his credit, but I knew it wouldn't take much for him to give in. So did Erica, as she continued to play with him.

"Oh," she said in a sweet, innocent voice, as if she'd been mistake. "So it's just my eyes?"

"Yes. You have beautiful eyes," Stiles said, doing his best not to get distracted as Erica made a show of licking her lips and softly biting down on them in a seductive manor, all while flashing her tender brown eyes at him.

"I have beautiful everything," Erica corrected him, attitude replacing flirtation.

"And a new found self-confidence. Congratulations, Erica. Dylan, always a pleasure. I should get going," Stiles said as he slipped past Erica to make a run for his jeep. He didn't get far. He might have managed to get past Erica – who was a little too focused on trying to keep his attention on her – but he had no chance against me, as my hand slammed into his chest, forcing him back in front of me and Erica.

"You're not going anywhere," I growled in warning, grinning as I did.

"Why not?" Stiles asked, grimacing as if any sudden move might cause my hand on his chest to turn into a claw.

"Because you're yet to ask my sister out," I pointed out, as if it were obvious.

"I'm good thanks," Stiles said, voice turning to a croak as he tried to step away.

"Wrong answered," I snarled, before swinging my fist into his face and knocking him clean out as he bounced off Boyd's front door.

"Dylan!" Erica screeched as she turned to glare at me with wide eyes.

"What? He wasn't giving you the respect you deserved," I argued in an innocent tone while batting my eyelashes at her. She just rolled her eyes before bending down to pick up Stiles.

She hovered over him however, kneeling down next to him as she stroked his bruised cheek. "You know, he's kind of cute when he's unconscious," Erica said, smiling softly as she stared at him.

"Or when he's quiet," I muttered, to which she looked up at me sharply. "Sorry," I apologised, to which Erica's eyes stopped glowing. "Now come on, let's move him out of the way, then we'll go and meet up with Derek." Erica nodded, before taking Stiles in her arms and carrying him on her own as we found a nice dumpster to hide him away in. After that we returned to our car, both smiling for separate reasons as we drove to the ice rink.


	14. Showdown at the Ice Rink

When we arrived at the ice rink, Derek was waiting for us with Isaac. Boyd was inside, working, and waiting for Scott. Derek had already give him the bite. The deed had been done, but Scott wouldn't know that. He would come, try and talk Boyd out of it, but why anyone in there right mind would reject the bite was beyond me. It had done nothing but good for me and Erica, despite the warnings from both Derek and Scott. Sure the full moons were intense, and there was the threat of the Hunters for now, but soon that would all be a distant memory and we'd be the ones running Beacon Hills. Our pack. It made me giddy just thinking about it.

We waited in the stands, just out of sight. Erica, me and Isaac sat on one bench with Derek sat on the one behind us, looking down on us all from his elevated position. Where else would the Alpha be?

After a while, Isaac began to sigh impatiently, and Erica began nudging me, looking at me as if to ask, "How much longer?" She wanted to go back to having fun, and Isaac was itching for our confrontation with Scott. I started up some small talk to keep them occupied, but it didn't last long, as Derek told us all to be quiet. Like kids being told of by their parents, we lowered our heads and sulked, watching Boyd as he continued with his job. At least we had some kind of a show while we waited, though it was hardly the next Mission Impossible.

Then our heads collectively lifted, hearing the doors open. We all smiled, looking back at Derek who grinned. He motioned for us to stay, and we did. All watching with eager eyed anticipation as Scott made his way out onto the ice. Once he had, Derek stood, walking down the stairs before motioning us to follow. I followed first, flanked by Isaac and Erica.

As we walked towards the ice, led by our Alpha, Scott tried to reason with Boyd. "I just wanna talk," he explained aloud, as Boyd stopped the cleaner he was driving, so Scott didn't have to shout. "Did Derek tell you everything? And I don't just mean going out of control on the full moons. I mean everything."

"He told me about the Hunters," Boyd said without looking Scott in the eye. Not because of shame, but because he didn't want to reveal he'd been bitten just yet, and looking into Scott's eyes might have just given that away before it was time.

"And that's not enough for you to say no? Whatever you want there's other ways to get it," Scott argued.

"I just wanna not eat lunch alone every day," Boyd snapped, finally looking at Scott who scoffed.

"If you're looking for friends, you can do a lot better than Derek."

"That really hurts, Scott," Derek said, announcing his presence as Scott turned around, eyes widening when he saw the full Pack before him. Derek was stood at the front, hands behind his back. Behind him and to the right was where the rest of us where. Me closest to him, followed by Erica and then Isaac. All grinning away and enjoying the moment of power while Derek spoke. "I mean, if you're going to review me, at least take a consensus," he argued, gesturing to the three of us at his side. His Pack.

"Erica, how's life been for you since we met?" Derek asked.

Erica hummed in though, looking down for a moment. "In a word…" she began, pausing as she flicked her eyes up to meet Scott's. "Transformative." Then she unleashed a growl, smiling as her canines formed in her mouth, her face partially shifting as she prepared herself for the fight. It wasn't her own doing of course, if anything it was Derek's. None of us had enough control yet to shift at will, at least not fully. The most me and Isaac could do was bring out our claws and flash our eyes. Everything else was by accident or because of Derek. But we were learning. Thanks to our Alpha.

"Isaac?" Derek asked next.

"Well, I'm a little bummed about being a fugitive, but other than that, I'm great," Isaac explains nonchalantly.

"And Dylan?" Derek then asked finally.

"Perfect, thanks for asking," I said with a smile, batting my eyes at Scott, whose eyes then began to shift between each member of our Pack.

"Okay, hold on. This isn't exactly a fair fight," Scott pointed out passively, backing up a single step as me and other continued to grinned smugly at him.

"Then go home, Scott," Derek said simply, shrugging unsympathetically. He then nodded, silently ordering us to attack. I led the charge, striding forward with my sister and Pack brother at my back. However, as we advanced, Scott suddenly knelt down and slammed his fist against the ice. It cracked, and when he looked back up, he'd completely shifted.

"I meant fair for them," Scott growled, before unleashing a roar.

It didn't deter me or my fellow Pack members. He might be able to control his shifts, but we had the numbers, meaning we had the extra power. "We'll see about that," I growled, flexing my fingers as my claws formed. I let out another growl, then when I was close enough, swung at Scott with my claws. To my shock though, he caught my arm mid-swing and then threw me behind him and into the large cleaner Boyd was still sat upon. I bounced off it, hitting the ground as blood entered my mouth.

Humiliation turned to embarrassment, and then quickly onto anger. I felt the shift take over, watching as Scott gut punched Erica and she collapsed on to her knees, heaving as she uncontrollable slid past. He would pay for that. I promised myself and Erica that no one would hurt us again, and I wasn't about to let Scott break that promise.

I rose back up, fully wolfed out with anger pulsating through me. I advanced as Scott threw Isaac into the wall around the ice rink. I took my time, knowing how unpredictable the ice was. But my hesitation gave Scott the upper hand as he dropped onto all fours and suddenly kicked back like the Buckaroo game me and Erica had played as kids. His combined feet caught me in the chest and sent me back, crashing into the cleaner once more.

A growl of frustration arose inside of me, but it was overshadowed by Isaac's angry one, as he advanced on Scott. Completely shifted like me. I glanced over at Erica, seeing that she was getting back on her feet. She hadn't fully shifted. She just barely had her claws out and the canines in her mouth weren't even fully formed. But what would you expect from the girl who was turned yesterday. She'd had little to no practise with her new abilities and was still getting used to them. Me and Isaac had had training. We were the ones Derek was expecting to do some real damage. Erica was just there to help out where she could.

I motioned her to stand aside as I advanced once more. This time though, Scott was too occupied by Isaac who was stood in front of him. Isaac stopped, seeing what I was about to do and smirked. I smirked too and then slashed Scott across the back with my claws. He howled in pain, stumbling forward into Isaac who grabbed him. I then stepped aside as Isaac shoved Scott forward, slamming him into the cleaner. He then turned, throwing Scott towards me where I caught him with a left hook.

A crack ran out as Scott collapsed onto the ice, sliding away with his face down. I chuckled, Isaac and Erica joining in as Scott lay motionless for a moment. Then his head shot back up, jaw having healed apparently from my punch. I scowled at him through my morphed face and he roared, climbing back up to his feet.

He came at us, heading right down the middle towards Isaac as we advanced in a wave. Unable to do much more than brace himself, Isaac stood his ground as Scott went to tackle him. Both went down, Scott on top. He then proceeded to grab Isaac by his jacket, pulling him up before shoving him back down against the ice, over and over. He only managed to do it a couple of times though, as I came up behind him. My arms slid under his, restraining him as I yanked him up to his feet, pulling him against me. I grinned, nodding to Erica who advanced, claws growing as she began to slash away at Scott's chest.

Another series of painful howls while me and Erica enjoyed ourselves. Then he lifted his feet, kicking Erica back and sending her into the cleaner once more. I struggled to hold his sudden shift in weight on the ice and back peddled. I managed to stay up, but when his head suddenly came flying back to meet me, I lost my hold on him, blood gushing out my nose. Momentarily stunned, I was defenceless as Scott went low, clawing at my legs. I went down, the air knocked from my lungs, before he then slammed both his fists down into my chest to make sure I didn't get back up.

Injured and out of breath, I lay there as Isaac tried to get back up. But Scott saw him and swiftly took him down with a kick to the ribs. With us all defeated, Scott looked around, still shifted and angry. "Don't you get it? He's not doing this for you. He's just adding to his own power," Scott explained with a glare towards Derek, who seemed somehow satisfied with what he'd seen. I didn't understand it. We'd just gotten our butts handed to us and had been utterly humiliated, and yet he seemed proud. Maybe we'd done better than I thought?

"It's all about him. He makes you feel like he's giving you some kind of a gift, when all he's done is turn you into a bunch of guard dogs!" Scott roared as he used each of us in turn like a curling stone, and threw us back across the ice to Derek's feet. First it was Isaac, then Erica and finally me. All three of us stopping beneath our Alpha. All too ashamed and hurt to dare lift our heads and look at him. We'd failed him. Our Alpha.

"It's true," Derek then said, his voice oddly optimistic. I braved a look up, and saw him smiling down at us. His Pack. "It is about power." Then he turned his attention back to Scott, smile falling as he advanced, bring out his claws and shifting. Wisely, Scott began to back up, and I began to grin. He might have been able to beat us, but Scott, a Beta, had no chance against Derek, an Alpha.

Pushing myself up, I stood along with the rest of the Pack, moving closer to Erica as we shared a smile. We could feel the power coming off of Derek, the power of our Pack combing with his Alphahood to make him more than a match for Scott. He raised his fists, trying to be brave as Derek loomed over him. Then suddenly Derek whacked his head against Scott's. I gasped, taking a little to much pleasure form the simple act of Derek inflicting pain on the one who'd hurt me, my sister and my Pack.

The show didn't stop there though, and with each attack my smile grew and grew, along with Erica and Isaac's. After the headbutt, Derek slashed Scott clean across the chest with his claws. Then came two slow and powerful uppercuts that Scott seemed unable to avoid. When Derek gut punched him, Scott then got his one and only hit in, an elbow to Derek's face that made him back up.

Normally, instinct would have had me and the Pack running to him, but Derek had been deliberately sloppy for Scott's sake. He was going easy on him. He smiled, and we smiled with him, before he then advanced to finish it. Scott took another swing, but Derek blocked it with ease before he proceeded to pound into Scott's face with his fist over and over. Then, as he was about to fall, Derek grabbed him, lifted him up, and threw him down on the ice. The surface cracking beneath the force of him.

Blood flew from Scott's mouth, before he spat out the rest. He tried to move but Derek stomped down hard, prompting Scott to cough up some more blood. When he continued to struggle, Derek applied more pressure, and soon, Scott was done. His arms dropped to his side and he was struggling to breath, until Derek removed his foot. Point having being made.

Part of me wanted to squeal and cheer aloud as he made his way back over to us, shifting back to human form. But I knew it'd ruin the moment, so I simply smiled and watched the final act of the show play out. Derek motion Boyd to follow, and the guy hopped off the cleaner before looking down at Scott. "Don't. You don't want to be like them," Scott wheezed out. It sounded so painful, I was almost tempted to go over and help him… Almost.

"You're right," Boyd agreed, before lifting his hoodie to reveal the bite mark beneath. Scott stared at it in horror, realising it'd all been for nothing, then looked disappointedly back up at Boyd. "I wanna be like you," Boyd said with a grin, before turning and making his way over to us. His Pack.

I smirked, watching Scott as he struggled to get up. Although when Derek strode past, I knew it was time to leave. No matter how much I wanted to stay and tease Scott.

I fell into step behind Derek, following my Alpha out as the rest followed behind me. Erica wiping blood from his mouth. Isaac clutching his still healing arm. And Boyd, united with his new Pack. Our Pack.

And this was only the beginning.


	15. Hardcore Training

"Go!"

At his call, I ran towards him. Isaac was on my left. He jumped over his first obstacle, front flipping, while I twirled around a support beam. Keeping my body close to it without hindering my progress. Next Isaac vaulted over his second obstacle. He then landed, crouching down and allowing me to use him as springboard. I lunched myself up into the air, kicking off another support beam and sending myself towards Derek, roaring as I reached out with my claws. He was completely still, until suddenly I was on the ground, his foot stomping down on my back and pinning me.

Thinking he had an opening, Isaac leapt towards another support beam on Derek's right, then shot off it towards him. But Derek saw it coming and caught him in mid flight, forcing him down on the ground next to me. "Again," he said simply. We reset, and started our attack again.

Isaac followed the same path as before. I mixed it up. Instead of jumping off Isaac again, I bypassed him, sliding underneath a closed road sign that was being used as one of our obstacles. I got up on all fours after stopping, locking eyes with Derek and growled. He merely stared back, unfazed.

Then Isaac shot by, jumping towards the same support beam as before and leapt towards Derek. It was the same result as last time. Only this time, I wasn't on the floor. As Derek forced Isaac down, I ran in, finding the perfect opening before Isaac hit the ground. I jumped, claws coming out as I went to slash Derek's exposed neck. Only suddenly he rolled underneath me and over Isaac, twisting Isaac's arm into an awkward position while grabbing my ankle from behind. My momentum ceased, and then gravity pulled me down, as Derek twisted my ankle.

I joint in Isaac's howls of pain, before Derek released us, making his way back to where he'd been before our attack. "Again," he said, exactly like before. Unimpressed and waiting for us to show some progress. We'd been going for a few hours now. He'd been teaching us more about fighting, using the environment to assist us. Now we were supposed to use what we learnt against him.

It wasn't going so well.

Isaac helped me up, and I thanked him before limping back over to my mark. Derek gave us an extra second to heal, Isaac flexing his arm and me rolling my ankle. As if knowing once we were both ready, Derek yelled, "Go," once more.

Yet again, we ran in. Isaac stupidly running the same route again. I could feel the irritation coming of Derek. Attacking the exact same way over and over would accomplish nothing. He needed to get out of his comfort zone and try something new. But I could hardly tell him that now, in mid-run. So I used my Pack brother's distraction to my advantage, slowing as I motioned to Erica who was watching next to Boyd. She caught my message and began to quietly move.

As she did, I picked up pace once more, keeping Derek's attention on me once he took out Isaac. As my Pack brother skidded across the floor, I flipped over him, landing on my feet and one hand, the other raised behind me. Then as I lifted my head, I roared, eyes flashing and canines forming. But I didn't fully shift, even though I was trying. And I knew that Derek knew I was trying. It was hard not take the look of annoyance personally then, because I was _trying_. Trying to get angry and control the shift, but it just wasn't working.

Regardless, I still needed to buy time. So I darted from side to side, all while Derek's eyes followed me, waiting for me to make my move. Then I did, faking a left swing before instead twirling towards my left, turning Derek's back to the subway carriage as he followed me. I swung with my claws, and he caught my arm. I smirked, spotting Erica above and ready to leap. She did, but then Derek used me like a fly swatter, lifting me up and throwing me around as I collided with Erica. He continued the swing before letting go, sending both of us to the ground next to Isaac, all of us groaning in pain.

"Does anyone wanna try not being completely predictable?" Derek asked rhetorically as he approached his defeated Betas. I was tempted to try something, just to prove myself, but Erica beat me to it. She ran at him before jumping, wrapping her legs around his waist as she took his lips with hers. My eyes widen, shocked by my sister's forwardness as she made out with our Alpha. It even seemed to be working for a moment, before he threw her back down on the ground, glaring at her.

Then something inside of me snapped and I was in front of him, roaring at him – my Alpha – for shoving Erica. The wolf part of me was shouting at me for being so stupid as to challenge the Alpha, but the sister in me couldn't let him get away with hurting Erica, even if it was just by rejecting her. I was done letting people do that.

I swung both my claws at him, and he caught both my wrists, before I slammed my knee against his crotch. He wavered, but remained standing, and although his face didn't change, I could see in his eyes I'd gotten him.

I smiled widely, proud, until my cockiness got the better off me, when Derek slammed his head against mine, sending me back down. My hands instantly went to my face as I felt Erica move to my side, helping me sit up. I was bleeding, blood running down my face, leaving a trail from my forehead, down the side of my noise and towards my mouth. I could only imagine how I looked, but judging by Erica's upset features, it must not have been good. I'd heal, eventually. As I'd learnt from a couple of training sessions with Derek and the Pack, an Alpha's attacks take longer to heal however.

"Jeez, why'd you have to hurt her so badly?" Erica snapped, glaring up at Derek before he began to glare back at her.

"I hit her as hard as she hit me," Derek simply growled, making Erica inch closer towards me as her arms tightened around my body. She was scared, I think we all were a little. But at the same time I was proud. My head was hurting like hell from his headbutt, but that meant I must have gotten him pretty good to with my knee to the groin. However, by impressing him with my cliché attack, I'd also managed to piss him off. "That's the purpose of this, all of this. You need to learn to hit harder and smarter, because compared to the Hunters, I'm going easy on you all."

His gaze then swung back towards me. "And don't get cocky. That cheap shot will give you a momentary advantage that will quickly pass if you let it. Like you did." I shrank towards Erica, feeling shameful because of my Alpha's disapproval. He was right though, I had mucked up. I was trying though, but that didn't seem good enough tonight for some reason.

"And you," Derek said, turning to Isaac. "Would it kill you mix it up. You might be coming far in control, but in everything else you are a slow learner."

Isaac let out a breath, sighing as he shook his head. He was used to never being good enough. Even so, his ignorant reaction to Derek had the Alpha's nostrils flaring, and me and Erica tensing. "Are we done? 'Cause I got about a hundred bones that need a few hours to heal," Isaac stated as he sat up, examining his sore arm.

Derek mocked a look of sympathy, before kneeling down, holding out his hand to see Isaac's arm. Foolishly, Isaac handed it over, but even when I knew what was coming, I still jumped when Isaac started screaming, as Derek broke his arm. "A hundred and one," Derek corrected, glaring down at Isaac, still holding his arm as the boy grimaced in pain. "You think I'm teaching you how to fight? Huh?" Isaac then made another mistake by looking away, at which Derek snapped, "Look at me!" Again me and Erica jumped, moving away from Derek and Isaac as the Beta looked back up at his Alpha.

"I'm teaching you how to survive!" He roared at Isaac, but it was intended for them all.

Releasing Isaac, Derek then stood back up and made his way back over towards the subway carriage. "Yeah, well, if they wanted us dead why aren't they coming for us now? What are they waiting for?" It was brave of Isaac to say, but he had a point. Still, I'm glad he said it instead of me - and I was curious to hear what Derek had to say.

"I don't know," he answered, before stepping back towards us. "But they're planning something. And you, especially, know that's not our only problem," Derek said pointing towards as Isaac. "Whatever that thing is that killed Isaac's father, I think it killed someone else last night."

He'd mentioned this creature to me when Isaac first joined the Pack, right before our first full moon. It hadn't been seen since, but obviously Derek hadn't forgotten about it. Like I had. "And until I find out what it is, you all need to learn everything that I know. As fast as I can teach you," Derek declared as he retreated towards the train carriage.

We rested for a while, until Derek returned. By which point Isaac and I were fully healed and I'd cleaned myself up. After that he went back to teaching the basics for Boyd in a privet session, while leaving me and Isaac to get Erica up to our level before the end of the night. It was never going to happen, not with the time we had before morning - and more importantly - school the next day. Still, none of us were about to argue.

A couple hours later, Erica had a much better control over her claws and eyes. She was still struggling to hold of the shift when provoked but that would be fixed with practise. It was something me and Isaac were still learning to this day. We also taught her the remaining basics of fighting that Derek hadn't. Again it would take a while to commit them to memory, but she'd been shown them and that's what matter.

When Derek finally declared they were done for the night, Boyd limped his way over, several bruises on his arms and face. Who said learning with Derek wasn't fun?

I offered him a lift, which he was grateful for as I took his weight. However, then Derek declared that I wasn't done, and that he had something else for me. I frowned, passing Boyd over to Erica and handing her the keys. She seemed unsure about this, not just her driving alone, but leaving me behind. I assured her both were fine. I'd been helping her learn how to drive anyway, and all she really had to do was pass her test.

I made sure to let her know this was a onetime thing though, just so she could Boyd and herself home. And reminded her to be careful. When she still didn't go, I promised her I'd be fine and then ushered her towards the exit. She went with Boyd willingly, but the look of worry never left her.

Once Derek dismissed Isaac, sending him off towards his corner of the room where he slept, he motioned me to follow him. To my surprise, he began leading me after Erica, as we climbed the iron staircase up towards the exit. We walked in silence until we got outside and he unlocked his car, opening the door. That was when I spoke up, "I'm sorry, but what is this exactly?"

He just stared at me, face still as a rock. He hadn't been like this before. He'd been nice, friendly. Yes, I understood that part of that was just to charm me so that I wouldn't freak when he offered me the bite. But even after I'd taken the bite and become a werewolf, he hadn't changed this much. The whole time before he bit Boyd he'd been relatively nice while still stern and eager to train us all up fast. Now he was like a no-shit gym teacher, and while we were on his time, there would be no wasting it.

Finally he broke his glare towards me as he got into the car. With a sigh under my breath I followed, climbing into the passenger seat where he presumably wanted me. One silent car ride later and we were are preserve, climbing out of Derek's car which provided the only light in the otherwise black forest.

Once Derek killed the lights, my eyes began to adjust to the blackness, making out the trees, the ground and how it shifted up ahead. I was stood by the car's passenger door, looking around the woods when Derek walked around. Now stood in front of me, I turned and looked up at him, knowing he was now about to give me instructions. "Here's what's going to happen," Derek began, which somehow made me straighten up at his voice. "You're going to wait here for five minutes, and I'm going to leave. You are then going to find me."

"Seriously," I let slip with a giggle. "Hide and seek?" I couldn't stop smiling at this turn of events. "You should have brought the rest of the Pack, made it more interesting."

"This isn't a game," Derek said lowly, wiping the smile off my face as the tidal wave of seriousness came crashing down on me. "This is important training, specifically for you."

I frowned. "For me?"

"Remember when I told you, you might make a good tracker?"

Under the pressure of his gaze I was struggling to recall such a memory. And with each second that passed, a felt another beed of sweat form on my brow. Eventually the silence was to much and I found myself answering with, "No…"

Derek was not impressed. As indicated by his flared nostrils. I winced, feeling the need to apologise to my Alpha, but somehow I felt like opening my mouth would only make things worse. So I stayed quiet, even when the silence made me want to scream, and did the best to hold his gaze.

"Well," Derek growled, before he collected himself, now speaking like a normal human being. "I did, and like I told you, your senses are sharp, indicating you have promise as a tracker. But you'll need to work on those senses in order to reach the level I'm looking for. In order to do that, I'm going to be giving you specific training on top of the training you and the others are already getting."

_Great. More training._

As if hearing my thoughts – or possibly just catching my roll of the eyes – Derek growled, "This is serious Dylan." I quickly looked back up to him, meeting his seriously ticked off green eyes. "I'm teaching you to survey, remember."

"I know," I whispered, though he heard it easily enough. "And I appreciate it, along with everything else you've done for me and Erica. So if this is what you want me to do, I'll do it. I'm sorry for disrespecting you," I said in a more diplomatic tone than I'd imagined it coming out as. I assumed it was just because I was talking to my Alpha.

He stared at me for a moment, then nodded, accepting my apology. "All right then. Let's get started. And remember, this is about using your senses," he instructed me, backing away before he turned and marched off into the woods.

As per my instructions, I waited five minutes then began trekking after him.

Knowing this was about my senses, I began by using my noise, the most obvious tracking tool at my disposal. It was easy enough to pick up the scent of my Alpha. It was still fresh after all so I began to follow it into the woods. However, quickly I discovered, my Alpha obviously had a few tricks for combating other Werewolves. He'd managed to mask part of his scent, making it harder for me to pick out. I had to kneel down several times to make sure I was still on the right path. He'd picked up speed as well, and was getting further away while I was barely keeping up with his fading scent.

Realising I was going to have to make some gut decisions, I locked onto his scent and then broke out into a sprint after him. Whenever I felt the scent disappear, I didn't stop – I changed direction, until I felt his scent return. I ended up chasing him, or rather his scent, around the woods for a good hour. I figured I was gaining on him, until I reached a stream and lost his scent completely. From there I tried my other scenes, to work out whether he'd gone up or down. From what I could sense, he'd gone up, so I followed. I'd turned out to be right, picking up his trail again with some near invisible wet footprints. Going in that direction, I picked up his scent again and proceeded on, until I was attacked.

From out of nowhere something collided with my chest, winding me in an instant as I collapsed onto the forest floor. My heart leapt into my throat and I thought briefly it might be Hunters. Ready to kill me then and there, like they'd done with that Omega. Slicing me in two.

It wasn't them, but I still got one hell of a fright when Derek landed on top of me. He'd shifted, and his Alpha red eyes were glaring down at me in annoyance…disappointment. "Now the hunter becomes the prey," Derek growled raising his hand above his head, claws extended and ready to slash. It took me a spilt second to figure out what he was talking about. Then it clicked. I'd been hunting him. Now he was switching the roles.

I was too late to react though, and his claws grazed my chest. They cut clean through my top, but only just broke through my skin. It was enough to draw blood though, trickling out the five scratches and seeping into my ruined t-shirt. I winced from the initial shock of pain, and to my shame I'd yelped. But then I met Derek's red eyes, having stepped off me, and he roared, "Run!"

Whether it was an order, or a mere suggestion, I had no idea. All I know is that I did run and he chased me.

This was not going my way. I'd exhausted myself without realising in tracking Derek, getting lost in the hunt and was now too tired to think clearly. All I could think was run from the threat, from the Alpha baring down on me. Then he caught my foot with his claw and I went down, but not without a fight. Tapping into my senses once again, I could tell what he was going to do next, from the way everything was moving around me. From the hint of his adrenaline in the air, to the sound of his muscles moving. He leapt towards me. And knowing that was what he was about to do, I rolled over in mid-fall, extending my foot and catching his jaw.

I'd got him! And it was all I'd needed to get him off me and give myself some room. I hit the ground, holding onto the breath inside me, refusing to let this be the end of me. I followed the momentum, rolling and sprung back up to my feet. I chanced a look back and saw Derek dazed, on the ground and distracted. I took my chance and dove for cover behind a tree. Taking quiet and deep breaths as he rose back up.

"Not bad," Derek admitted and I was filled with pride. "But you got lost in the hunt didn't you. Didn't realise how exhausted you were until you fell into my trap. That's the weakness of a tracker. You need to be able to focus on the job and yourself, otherwise that will happen." Pride left me as I exhaled sharply.

I wondered briefly how he knew all that, but then remember he was the Alpha. It was his job to know all this and to teach me. "But at the same time you weren't focused enough. You were only focusing on your sense of smell. A tracker needs more than that. Yes, that is your primary tool, but you need your other senses too, otherwise you'll fall into traps. Like you did.

"If you'd been paying attention to your other senses. You would have heard me breathing, realised I'd doubled back. You did good at the river, and again when I caught up to you just there, that was you using all your senses. But that's not enough. And while you can track me, I can also track you. And I smell your blood…"

My eyes widened, shooting down to the cuts on my chest. They'd healed over already but the blood was still there and had most likely been dripping across the forest as I fled. "And that's how I know you're behind that tree!" An arm swung around and I ducked, tree bark splintering above as Derek's fist collided with the trunk I was against.

I darted away as Derek came around to find me. I turned back to face him, deciding fighting was my best option. And possibly the best way to redeem myself in the eyes of my Alpha. I felt the shift take over and again I wished it had been deliberate but I hadn't been trying to shift. In any case, I had, and I was grateful for it.

Now it was my turn to attack. I charged forward and swung. He easily dodged. I followed through with a few more punches and then a kick. He dodged all those too and caught my foot. I tried to pull it away but he had to good a hold an easily pulled me off my feet. Next thing I knew I was on the ground and he had his foot on my chest, pinning me down. It was over.

He shifted back. It took me a little longer to do the same, being as worked up as I was. In the end I just gave up, needing to get something off my chest, and not just Derek's foot. "Why the hell are you doing this to me?!"

"You know why," Derek replied, leaning down and pressing his foot on my chest as he did. "I'm teaching you to survive."

"Stop saying that! I get it! And yes, I need to know how to survive, but so does everyone else! Why are you dragging me out into the woods for extra training? Why are you being harder on me? And why aren't using this time to train Erica and Boyd up to speed?" I shouted out as I felt my eyes burst with a bright glow. It did nothing to deter Derek, who continued to glare down at me.

"All right, you want to know why? Because you were the first," Derek answered, momentarily shocking me. "You were the first one I turned, the first one I ever bit – and you have so much potential, especially for a bitten Werewolf." In that moment I felt my anger leave me, my body shifting back to normal as I lay there, Derek's foot still pressed against me and him staring down at me with those complex green eyes.

"That's why I'm giving you your extra training, so that you can be the best you can be. And if I can train you up fast enough, then you can help me train the others," Derek explained. "Because you see, Dylan. I don't just see you as another of my Betas. I see you possibly being my right-hand, my Second, and the most important of my Betas. But in order for you to reach that level and be what I need you to be, I have to focus more on your training then the others, push you harder than them."

I stared up at him, in shock at the praise he was giving me, and at what he was suggesting. That I could be his most important Beta. I'd never been the most important anything, except for Erica. But here was Derek, thinking I was so good as a Werewolf, and with so much potential that he was willing to call me his right-hand, his second in command. It was the highest praise I'd ever received from anyone, other than Erica. And it made me want to live up to his expectation, to prove myself worth and be just that. His right hand. His Second.

"And for the record, I'm not being harder on you," Derek added, giving me a glimpse at the man he'd been before we'd added Boyd to the Pack. The man who was a serious Alpha and trainer, but still knew how to smile and express happiness. That was my Alpha there. "I'm equally hard on all of you," he corrected, holding out his hand for me to take, as he removed his foot from my chest.

With a grateful smile I took it, and he hauled me back up to my feet.

"All right, let's go again," Derek ordered, and we went back to my tracker training.


	16. Late Night Games

With a tremendous thud yet another player for the Beacon Hills Lacrosse team had been taken out, and yet again me and Erica burst out laughing.

Was it a little strange for us to be laughing at our own school's failures in what was a very serious lacrosse match? Probably. But most of these guys had been dicks to me and Erica up until our recent makeovers, thus I felt very justified in laughing at them all whenever the giant on the other team took one of them out. And besides, they'd all forgive us anyway. We were both beautiful after all, and that's how high school worked.

At the bottom of the stands, the coach was having a mental breakdown, but what else was new. It was however, particularly entertaining tonight, as me and Erica laughed away at the show being put on for us by the lacrosse players. Even Boyd was smirking from next to us, offering a few comments here and there. He clearly knew his stuff when it came to lacrosse, but me and Erica were more focused on the mocking comments he made about the players and how he could now do so much better than them all. Then again, all three of us could probably take on both teams together if we were to use our Werewolf abilities. But this show was far more entertaining for now.

Just then another player went down and the medics rushed on for the fifth or sixth time that game. The crowd leaned forward with anticipation, to see whether the Beacon player would be able to play on, or would have to be taken off. But while everyone else frowned with concern, me, Erica and Boyd were grinning with anticipation. Finally the referee blew his whistle and the medics pulled the boy onto the stretcher to be taken away. The crowd leaned back, as did me and my fellow wolves. Only we were chuckling while the crowd sighed uneasily.

"I can't feel my legs," groaned out the player on the stretcher, which I heard perfectly with my hearing and burst out laughing once more.

"What is it?" Erica asked, grinning with anticipation as she looked to me. I leaned over, whispering and she then burst out laughing too. It was reasonable to say at this point that this was the best lacrosse game me and Erica had ever gone to. Normally we sat quietly in the stands and reacted to very little, if we went at all. And usually before or after we'd end up getting harassed by someone, whether it was the players or Lydia and her cronies. But it was different now. Lydia was no longer the top bitch. We were.

As our laughter died, I looked back down at Coach, who was checking up on Danny. The boy likely had a concussion from the looks of it, and there was also something about the smell in the air that gave me that impression also…_weird_. Regardless, Coach was trying to get him to play, and as he sent Danny back onto the field he threw him a stick, only to then be told he needed one more player.

"Where's Stilinski?" Coach then began to ask, looking across the bench for the one player he never used.

I nudged Erica. "Looks like your crush might be about to finally get some action," I teased.

"You have a crush?" Boyd asked with a grin. "Who is it?"

"Nobody," Erica blushed.

"It's Stiles," I answered for her, not that Erica seemed to mind. We trusted each other naturally now that we were in a Pack together. I'd first noticed it with Issac but it had become more clear with Boyd after he joined. He'd slipped into our group so easily, becoming near instant friends with all of us to the point that it was like he'd never not been in our lives. That was our Pack Bond, the one that made us all a family, with Derek at the head of that family as the Alpha.

"Seriously," Boyd scoffed like a big brother. "You could do way better than that guy."

"Shut up," Erica laughed, swatting Boyd's knee as we joined in on her laughter.

"I'm serious, heck even I'm a better choice than Stiles Stilinski!" argued Boyd with a playful smile.

"You're better than so many boys, Boyd. Everyone else just hasn't realised it yet," I pointed out, to which Boyd shrugged modestly.

"I know," he replied with a smirk, before we all started laughing again.

It was while we were laughing away, that Coach spotted us, or more specifically Boyd and started shouting over to us. At first I'd thought it was to shout at us, to vent after loosing so many players and to tell us to quit laughing at them all – which was never going to happen. But then he said something that changed the mood of our trio very quickly.

"You play lacrosse?" Coach shouted up to Boyd.

Boyd looked to us, face more than a little surprised and mouth open. Mine and Erica's expression reflected his pretty much, until he started grinning. He went to stand but my hand landed on his leg before he could, pushing him back down. "Uh-uh," I warned with a serious look to Boyd. "Derek won't like this."

"Yeah," Boyd said in acknowledgement. "But I will."

"Boyd–" I hissed, trying to keep him down, but he forced himself up before I could stop him. And once he was up it was too late to stop him without drawing attention. My face dropped into my hands and I felt Erica's reassuring hand on my back as Boyd removed his jacket, getting ready to play while the Coach cheered, eager to get back to the game.

"It'll be all right," Erica whispered to me.

"I hope so," I groaned before spreading my fingers so I could look through the gap at Erica. "Otherwise Derek's gonna kill me."

"Why, it's not your fault," Erica pointed out before her voice took on an edge. "And besides, if he does, I'll beat the crap out of Boyd."

I dropped my hands, grinning up at her from my hunched position on the bench. "So I get killed and the best you do is beat up the guy responsible?"

"All right, fine, I'll rip off his nuts as well," Erica offered with a sly grin. "And then do the same to every guy in school."

"That's more like it," I said, laughing along with her before she leaned over to hug me. It was nice, and took me away from the unfortunate turn of events before I then saw Boyd run out onto the field and groaned again. When this was over I was going to have to tell Derek. He would shout at me. And then I'd shout at Boyd. Probably rough him up a little as well during training.

_It'll be the last time he disobeys me, that'll be fore sure, _I told myself before I noticed Erica standing up from next to me. I looked up, finding her about to leave me until I called after to her. "Hey." She looked back down at me, confused as to why I'd stopped her until I asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go and look for Stiles," Erica explained, looking back at me with a grin that said she knew something that I didn't.

"May I ask, 'why?'" I asked, curious as to what she'd figured out without me.

With her grin still in place, Erica lunched into her explanation. "Stiles has never left the bench while Scott's playing, not since he became a Werewolf. And even before that, he's always sat right there in case he gets the chance to play." As she said it, Erica pointed to the exact spot where Stiles always sat on the bench. "Now he's got that chance and he's no where to be seen? Something's not right." I had to admit, she made a good case. But then again, only my loving obsessive sister would notice something like that when it came to Stiles Stilinski.

"So I'm gonna go and look for him. That okay with you?" Erica asked, motioning with her thumb towards the school, where she intended to start her search I presumed.

"Yeah, sure," I said with a supportive grin. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on Boyd. You go after your crush" I then added teasingly before she leaned down to give me a warm hug.

"Have I told you recently that you're the best sister ever?" she asked rhetorically.

"Not nearly enough," I said, patting her back before she pulled away from me, smiling as she descended the stands and headed off towards the school in search of Stiles. And no sooner had she left, did my phone go off, indicating I had a text message.

Pulling out my phone, I found that it was from Derek. It said to leave the stands and come and meet him in the school parking lot. Since it was from my Alpha I didn't question it and rose to leave. The only reason I hesitated was because of Boyd. But he seemed to be doing fine. Plus Scott was out there on the field with him. Let him deal with a fraction of my problems for one game and keep an eye on Boyd for me. I blew him a kiss and wink as a thank you – not that he noticed, too caught up in his game – and then left to meet Derek.

I found him in the parking lot like he'd said, leaning against his car as I approached him. I was the first to speak, "What's up boss?"

There was a thin smile on his lips, apparently pleased with himself or maybe looking forward to something as he met my gaze. "I need you to find Stiles. I need to have a word with him."

I stop in front of him, frowning. "Why?" I asked with a quizzical look on my face. Then a thought came to me and my jaw dropped. "You're not going to bite him are you?"

Derek laughed, genuinely laughed at what I'd said. "In his dreams maybe," Derek finally answered before turning back to his minor serious mode. "No, I just want to have a little chat with him."

"About what?" I asked, knowing full well I was being noise and more than a little rude.

He smirked though, and said, "You'll find out."

Still staring at him with plenty of questions floating about my mind, I only broke eye contact when my phone beeped again. This time the text I'd gotten was from Erica. She'd found Stiles and was following him through the school. Another text then popped in. He was sneaking into the principle's office and was looking for something apparently.

"Good news, I just found Stiles for you," I said to Derek, grinning as I held up my phone towards him. He rose a questioning eyebrow. "Erica went to look for him. He's at the principle's office looking for something apparently."

Derek hummed in thought, before he made up his mind and gave me my instructions. "All right. Go and join her, and then bring Stiles to me at the swimming pool."

"With pleasure," I said, grinning with delight as I sent Erica a quick text to let her know what was happening and to keep Stiles in sight until I joined her. She didn't let me down – not that I doubted my sister for a second. I found her where she'd told me she'd be, in the hallway where the principle's office was. Although, if I hadn't known where it was, I simply could have followed the noisy sounds of Stiles rummaging through the place.

I joined Erica by the door, looking in to find an oblivious Stiles ransacking the only desk in the room, searching for something. I would guess a book, judging by the fact he was saying the word over and over again as he continued to throw bits of paper over his shoulder.

Finally giving up in a huff, Stiles leaned away from the desk, pulling out his phone as he furiously typed a message into his phone. "Nothing. Here," he said angrily as he typed, sending the message before looking up and gasping at the sight of both me and my sister. "Oh, my…"

"Hello, Stiles," Erica said, smiling away at him as she batted her eyes.

"We'd like to have a word with you," I added, grinning more menacingly than my sister.

"Oh…well…" he gulped. "That's nice of you, taking the time to sneak up on me in a quiet, empty building where no one can hear me…" _Scream?_ I finished his sentence in my head, grin widening in amusement. "But, uh…I'm kinda busy right now so I'm gonna have to–" He made his way towards us, but he was never going to get past. As demonstrated by Erica who quickly lifted her hand to his chest, blocking him from getting through.

"Stiles," Erica said sweetly, batting her eyelashes even more than before as she gave him her cutest puppy dog eyes. "You aren't going to leave me all alone in this big, scary building, are you?" she asked innocently.

"Of course not," Stiles said with a surprising amount of certainty. "I'm going to leave you with your equally scary sister." _There was the response I was expecting_, I thought to myself. "No offence, Dylan," he then quickly added with a look my way.

"None taken," I replied, still grinning.

"So I'll just leave you two young ladies to show yourselves out," Stiles said, trying to slip past Erica again, only for her to shove him back into the office and towards the principle's desk.

"Now Stiles, what kind of gentleman wouldn't escort his date home?" Erica asked, sweetness now turning to attitude, hinting at a growl.

"No idea, I'll just go and find one and I'll let you know the answer." He tried to make another run for it but Erica grabbed him by the ear bringing a yelp from him as he forced himself to step back in line with her – muttering a series of painful nosies as he did.

I then stepped into the room, folding my arms as I squared up to Stiles, grinning at his pain and the fact that Erica now finally had a hold on him. "Actually, Stiles, how about you show us the pool instead," I suggested and watched as Erica's smile doubled in size. It would be nice if I could make that fantasy in her head a reality, but now wasn't the time. We were doing our Alpha's work.

"I'd be happy to draw up a map–Ahh!" he was cut off as Erica gave a sharp pull of his ear. "Or I could show you the way," he offered as Erica loosened her pull.

"We'd appreciate that, Stiles," I said, gesturing for him to lead the way. He let out a huff, but complied, Erica holding onto his ear the whole way. Which also meant we had to listen to him yelp in pain, the whole way. But it was worth it to see my sister's smile. It probably wasn't her first choice of Stiles' body parts to be holding, or even her second, but she was holding Stiles and she was milking it for all it was worth.

When we arrived at the pool Derek was waiting, basket ball in hand. He was staring down at it, but lifted his head when we entered with the yelping Stiles at the lead. Once we were close enough, Erica realised her hold on Stiles and we walked past him – though I flicked him in the ear as I passed him, earning another yelp – before we moved to Derek's side, flanking him.

"Stiles," Derek greeted him.

"Derek," Stiles grumbled back.

Derek got straight to the point, looking down at his basket ball casually as he spoke. "What did you see at the mechanics garage?" So that was what this was about. He'd mentioned the attack to us during that day's training session after school. Voicing his thoughts to the Pack like a sounding board. He mostly talked to me and Isaac, theorising about the creature that had killed Isaac's dad and how it might be related to the most recent murder. He'd also mentioned he was going to look into the case with Isaac and had obvious found out Stiles had been there at some point. Maybe even during the creature's attack. Things were starting to get interesting. Although I could tell I was paying more attention than my sister, who continued to look Stiles up and down from Derek's other side. _Hormones_, I thought with a roll of the eyes. Even Werewolves suffer from them.

Stiles answered Derek's question with the usual sarcasm. "Uh, several alarming EPA violations that I'm seriously considering reporting." Erica laughed, and to my surprise Derek joined in, though not as strong. He was amused though, and running his fingers along the basket ball. I grinned, knowing what was coming, as Derek pressed his fingers against the ball, claws sinking in and providing a way out for the air.

"Holy God," Stiles said, clenching up as Derek dropped the lifeless ball to the ground at our feet.

"Let's try that again," Derek said, eyes narrowing on Stiles while me and Erica continued to grin, enjoying the performance Stiles was putting on. However the show was over pretty fast.

Seeing that he had no way out other to offer up the information – and be honest about it – Stiles started to talk. "All right, the thing was pretty slick looking. Um, skin was dark. Kind of patterned. Uh, I think I actually saw scales," he listed off while me and Derek took mental notes for later discussion. "Is that enough? Okay, because I've somebody I really need to talk to."

"You're not finished talking to us yet, Stiles," Erica pointed out with a grin. Stiles glared at her, but looked back to Derek for conformation on whether he could leave or not. He had no such luck and ended up letting out a series of frustrated noises that only made Erica giggle and me grin all the more.

"All right, fine, eyes. Eyes are, um, yellowish. And slitted. Um, has a lot of teeth," Stiles continued to list off description features, all of which built an image in my head. And not a pretty one. I looked over to Erica, sensing her worry and seeing it on her face as she looked to our Alpha. He was too busy listening to notice though…until he looked up, sensing something. I was a few seconds behind but I sensed it too and looked up. Nothing was there though, but I could tell by the way the air was moving around us, the soft smell and near silent noises, that something wasn't right. Erica looked up along with us, and that was when I saw it appear, sliding up onto the railing of the staircase above Stiles like a snake. Only this snake had four limbs, a head and a tail. Just like what Stiles had described.

He was still talking but I'd blocked him out, staring in horror at the thing above him, along with Erica and our Alpha. Finally Stiles seemed to notice we were all looking up and turned to see the lizard like creature looming over him. It let out a hissing sound that seemed to resemble a roar. Stiles jumped towards us but almost tripped over himself until Erica caught him and pulled him back.

Derek stepped forward, letting out a challenging roar back at the creature, lowering himself into a fighting stance. The creature hissed again, as if accepting the challenge. But instead of lunging for Derek it went for Stiles. Without hesitation Erica shoved him behind the Pack and to safety. But left herself vulnerable as the creature scratched her with such force that it might as well have punched her, sending her flying into the wall and knocking her clean out.

"Erica!" I shouted, already running to her before I could stop myself.

"Dylan, don't!" Derek's shout was the last thing I heard before the creature caught my leg. It's own claws digging into my ankle before I collapsed.

Instantly I lost feeling in my entire body. The floor was rushing up to meet me and I could do nothing to stop it. I was paralysed. Unable to do anything as my head whacked off the tiled floor, and I was thrown into a world of darkness along with my sister.


	17. Monster

When I awoke the room was a blur, so hazy and swirly that I couldn't even decide which direction was up or down. My head was throbbing and I could feel parts of my body twitch. There was also a little cramp from having been left in an uncomfortable position. But there was also a hand on my shoulder. And someone was saying my name. It was muffled, as if I were underwater, but as the speaker's voice rose so too did it clear.

Eventually I was able to work out who it was that was speaking. It was Derek. My Alpha. He was calling out to me. I knew I had to respond but when I tried to speak a groan was all that came out. I felt my body lurch, and for a second I thought I was going to be sick, until I realised I was being rolled onto my back and my stomach seemed to relax. However, while my stomach calmed, a sharp pain twisted its way behind my eyes. My hand moved without command and rested against my head, as if it's touch alone would sooth my aching head.

No such luck unfortunately.

However, as the seconds ticked by – thankfully in silence – my vision began to clear. The vortex in my eyes un-swirling back into a picture my brain could understand. One were I saw Derek kneeling at my side, concern wrapped up in those green eyes of his. On my other side was Erica, a tidal wave on concern in her eyes compared to Derek's. She was trembling, waiting for me to come back to her, to say something, anything.

I wet my lips, preparing to speak while Derek asked questions of me. Question that I couldn't understand and therefore couldn't answer. All right maybe I could have focused a little more on what he was saying, but I would run with the excuse and make sure Erica was okay before I gave him my full attention. "Erica?" I managed to get out. It was hoarse and a mere whisper, but she obviously heard it from her gasp of relief.

"Dylan!" she cried back, leaning down as if to hug me until Derek's hand shot out to keep her back.

"Give her a minute, Erica," he instructed. I would have argued, but my brain was still a rocky ocean of thoughts, struggling to grab onto something as I drowned in them. I could see the urge in my sister's eyes, the need to hold me and comfort not only me, but herself. It pained me to not be able to give her that comfort but until I could speak, my Alpha apparently spoke for me.

"Is she okay?" Erica asked, eyes remaining on me despite the fact she was talking to our Alpha.

"Just a concussion, like you. In a few minutes she'll be fine," he said in surprising reassurance.

Getting some feeling back, I went to try and sit up and almost whacked the back of my head off the floor when I lost my strength. Thankfully Derek caught me and sat me up before any more damage could be done. "Hey, take it slow. You're still healing." As he spoke I wet my lips once more, coughing a little before trying to talk again, now that I was conscious. My mind clearly healing ahead of my body – no matter how annoying it was.

"What happened?" I managed to say in the same hoarse voice as before, although my voice was a little more audible now. I was going to need a drink before I started up my next conversation.

"It was the creature that killed Isaac's dad," Derek answered, eyes serious as he spoke. "It knocked you and Erica out…and managed to paralysis me."

I frowned, getting out something that resembled a, "What?" before a coughing fit hit me.

"She needs water," Erica declared, looking to Derek.

"Go and get some," he instructed, or rather gave permission. She was up like a gun had gone off and running from the room. She quickly returned after less than a minute. During which I'd tried and failed to get Derek to continue with my near impossible to understand voice. The water helped, and it was only then I realised how dry my mouth was.

"Thanks," I said to Erica, her smile doing more for me that whatever healing process was going on inside my body.

Now sounding more like myself again, I pushed Derek off, sitting up on my own, and turned to face him. "So what the heck was that thing?"

"I didn't know what it was before, but I do now," Derek explained solemnly. "It's called a Kanima."

"Well, that doesn't sound friendly," Erica murmured. She was putting on a tough act, but I heard the quiver in her voice. The fear seeping through.

"It's not," Derek confirmed, although it seemed more like an automatic response after what he'd apparently just gone through, voicing his inner thoughts without realising. Then he went silent, lost in thought. I shared a worried look with Erica, before we both looked back to our Alpha. This thing was undeniably strong, if it was able to nearly kill him. I could understand how it took out me and Erica, we were inexperienced and still new to all this. But for it to almost kill Derek – all of them in fact – that was seriously scary. After all Derek was meant to be the strongest, an Alpha, made stronger by his Pack, the Pack we were a part off. But even with a Pack of five, the Alpha had almost been killed by this thing – this Kanima. Which left me with one question.

"How are we still alive?" I asked, voice almost trembling at the thought of how close we'd all come to death.

Derek turned to look at me once more, a sigh exiting through his nose, while his mouth remained shut. "It was Scott. Scott saved us," he said, a mixture of emotions and feelings in his voice. It was too much for me to dig through in my current state, so I just took the statement for what it was.

Scott had saved us.

But he wasn't one of us, one of our Pack, and had pushed us all away more than once. So why save us? The obvious answer popped into my head, which then brought on another question. "Where's Stiles?" I looked to Erica for that one, trusting she'd be keeping a closer eye on Stiles than Derek would be.

"He's outside with Scott," Erica answered quietly. The experience had shaken her up too. I needed to get her home, to a place of safety so we could both regroup and breath. Sat here, in the place where we were attacked wasn't doing either of us any good. Plus the swimming pool was actually surprisingly creepier now than it had been when we first walked in with Stiles.

"I need to speak with them both," Derek said, before looking to me. "Can you stand on your own?" I nodded, but allowed Erica to help me up regardless. I couldn't continue to lean on her however. That would show weakness, and after what just happened, I knew Derek wouldn't want to show weakness – and I didn't want to either. Especially not in front of Scott and Stiles.

Erica seemed to have the same idea, her confident grin returning as Derek lead us out. I still had linger questions about the attack, but I kept quiet for now, following my Alpha. I knew he'd explain everything he thought necessary to us all later, as a Pack. That was when I could ask my questions, after he'd ran through the event with all of us.

For now, he led us out to the parking lot and towards what I presumed to be Scott's car, which he and Stiles were leaning over with a laptop between them. The glow from the screen lighting up their faces as they read and discussed. I didn't bother to focus my hearing on the pair, so the first thing I heard, once we were close enough to hear, was said by Stiles. "Is that even a language?"

"How are we supposed to figure out what this is?" Scott replied, both clueless. Luckily for them both, our Alpha was here and willing to share information apparently.

"It's called the Kanima," Derek declared, once again flanked by me and Erica. We came to a stop before the pair of idiots, as they both looked up, confused before one of them – Stiles – started to glare pathetically at us all.

"You knew the whole time," Stiles said with an irritated sigh.

"No," Derek clarified calmly. "Only when it was confused by its own reflection."

"It doesn't know what it it," Scott said in realisation.

"Or who," Derek added.

Shaking his head, Stiles let out another sigh before asking, "What else do you know?"

"Just stories, rumours," Derek said dismissively, which admittedly had me a little worried. I was smart enough to know that information was another source of power, just like Derek's Alpha bite was. The more we knew about this Kanima, the better chance we'd have at stopping it. But from the sound of it, our Pack's supernatural expert – our Alpha – didn't actually know a lot of _facts_ about this monster. And after becoming a Werewolf, I can tell you, stories and facts are two very different things.

"But it's like us?" Scott pressed, trying to get what he could out of Derek.

Our Alpha obliged with an explanation, though it wasn't a comforting one. "A shapeshifter, yes, but it's…it's not right. It's like a…" He trailed off, unable to find the appropriate word for such a creature. But the reliable chatter box Stiles wasn't short. Turning himself into a word of the day calendar as he offered up a word to fill in the silence.

"An abomination."

At that our Alpha nodded in agreement, and I felt a shiver run down my back at the thought. It was a strong word to use, _abomination_, but it felt right to describe the Kanima. At least when compared to Werewolves. We might not be perfect, but I knew as a species we weren't monsters, not unless we chose to be. But this thing…I'd call it a monster, if _abomination_ didn't seem to fit so much better. And to make the whole thing worse, it seemed to be stronger and more deadly than even we were.

Our Alpha then nodded, turning to leave. Me and Erica went to follow until Scott called to him and we all turned back. "We need to work together on this," Scott insisted, which for a brief moment made me think he was agreeing to join the Pack. I began to smile at the thought, of him finally conceding. But then he continued and my smile dropped. "Maybe even tell the Argents."

I didn't have to voice my thoughts on that idea, as Derek spoke up for all of us. "You trust them?"

"Nobody trusts anyone!" Scott replied with a raised voice, but still in control. "That's the problem. While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger and faster than any of us, and it's killing people. And we still don't know anything about it!"

Derek met Scott's panicked stare with his own calm and level one. "I know one thing, when I find it. I'm gonna kill it," Derek declared, turning as he finished and leading me and Erica away from the Omega and his friend.

Derek's car was parked on the other side of the lot, meaning we were able to put plenty distance between us and Scott. Something I was grateful for considering what happened next.

Like the good Betas we were, me and Erica escorted out Alpha back to his car, before planning to return to our own. But once we reached his car, rather than getting in, Derek turned to face us both and we stopped. "Where was Boyd?"

"Excuse me?" Erica asked, despite the fact he was looking directly at me.

"When I texted you earlier. I thought you'd bring Boyd with you. Why didn't you? You said he'd be with you tonight," Derek pointed out, reminding me of something I'd forgotten about in all the chaos. Boyd. The Werewolf who I'd let play lacrosse despite the fact he was only a few days turned. And I knew full well it had been a mistake to let him do that. _Now came the aforementioned killing of me, at Derek's hands._

"He was with us tonight," I answered, already lowering my head but maintaining eye contact. Trying my best to take my punishment like a grown-up, or at the very least the admission of my guilt.

"So why didn't you bring him with you?" Derek repeated calmly, those waiting green eyes refusing to blink as they stared back at me. I braved a glance over to Erica, seeing that she too had tensed. Shoulders raised, head pushing down as she tried to send supportive thoughts through her brown eyes. It was appreciated.

I closed my eyes, taking in a brave breath before then turning back to my Alpha and meeting his gaze. "He didn't come with me…because he was playing lacrosse with the school team." Derek's glare instantly intensified, so much so that I was wincing before he even opened his mouth to speak.

"You let him play!" Derek growled.

"In her defence–" Erica tried to say, but Derek silenced her instantly.

"Be quiet," he snapped, and she was, as his gaze moved back onto me. But I was no longer brave enough to meet his furious eyes. "What were you thinking?! He's not got control over his shifts yet, over his eyes even, and you thought letting him play lacrosse was a good idea!"

"No," I protested feebly. I could have gone on, but that would involve throwing Boyd under the bus and that wasn't something a Pack brother, or sister, did. The truth is I could have stopped him, but didn't, for several reasons, none of which would excuse me without getting Boyd in more trouble than he probably was already in.

When I failed to say anything else, Derek filled the silence with his very loud, deep, angry, breaths. "Do you have any idea what could have happened tonight?" I did, but knew saying so would only land me in more trouble, so I wisely kept my mouth shut. "He could have shifted, he could have exposed us!"

"I know." The whispered apology came out before I could stop it.

"And yet you let him play!" Derek snapped, growling as his eyes flashed a blazing red. I'd failed him, I'd let him down, and in that moment I wasn't sure which was worse. How badly and ashamed I felt, or how angry and disappointed I'd made him, my Alpha.

Thankfully, he took a calming breath, one that allowed his eyes to return to normal as he inhaled and exhaled, over and over. Until finally he spoke again, the disappointment clear in his voice, if it hadn't been before. "Go home. I don't want to look at you right now."

That stung, worse than anything else that had ever been said to me by a single person. The blatant order from the man who'd helped me become who I was now, the man was the most important thing to me other than Erica. My Alpha. And now he didn't even want me. I'd failed him that badly. And after just a few nights ago, when he told me what his hopes were for me. For me to become his righthand. His Second.

"D–D–Derek–" I tried to speak, tried to apologise, to gain back some of the ground I'd lost, but he wasn't having it. Not tonight.

"I said LEAVE!" he roared, eyes once again flashing red as I jumped back, seeing the side of my Alpha that terrified me right to my core. The monster he could become on command.

I couldn't argue with him now, now that he'd made the same order twice, now that he'd scared me to an inch from a heart attack. I stepped back, several steps, his gaze still on me. His disappointed and ashamed gaze. My heart was racing, beating so fast I was certain it would explode if I stayed and let those green eyes fill me up with anymore self-hatred. I wanted to cry, but I didn't want him to see, and that conflict finally managed to make me move. I turned away, and no matter how much I wanted to sprint, to run from the scene, I calmly walked back to my car.

Erica followed, head lowered and just as quiet as I was until we were in the car. And right then it hit me, the real power Derek had over us, as our Alpha. He might have turned us into Werewolves, given us powers beyond belief and brought us into a different world. But his true power was in his words, making us believe we could be something different, something better than what we had been pre-bite. It was because of him that me and Erica were who we were now. And just as quickly as he made us, he could turn us back, evidenced by my sudden break down and stutter, while Erica sat quietly in the seat next to me. Holding me in the most comforting way possibly. I'd sworn we'd never go back, and I'd broke that promise. I'd not only failed my Alpha tonight, I'd failed Erica. And that was why that night was, without a doubt, the worst night of my life.

And it had started out so well…


	18. Extra Mile

I'd been stood outside for what felt like hours, staring at the rundown building within in which I knew I'd find Derek. It sounded so simple in my head. Just drive over, walk in, and talk to him about my mess up at the lacrosse game. Apologise, grovel, do whatever it takes and then get back to normal. But as I knew, the world didn't work like that. People, even Alphas, were complicated and sometimes impossible to understand or predict.

Things might not be able to go back to what they were before, but I could at least try and apologise, work on improving the relationship I'd broken with my carelessness. Again though, easier said than done. Like I said, I'd been stood outside the building for what felt like hours. Unable to take those last few steps, walk in, and face my terrifying Alpha.

But that was thing, he was my Alpha so sooner or later I was going to have to see him again. So my options were to see him now, alone, or see him when he next summoned all of us, and face him with the rest of the Pack, were I would be humiliated before them all. It wasn't the most motivating of thoughts, but it helped me come to a decision as I finally walked into the building.

Like always, I descended the iron staircase, though before I did I glanced around from above for any sign of Derek. There was none, and Isaac didn't seem to be here either. I made my way down the steps, taking my time and doing my best to be quiet.

When I reached the bottom my head shot up at the sound of the subway carriage doors being forced open, metal scratching against metal. With the door having been opened, Derek leaned against the frame, folding his arms as his green eyes met my blue. "What do you want?" he asked bluntly, clearly still upset with me. I couldn't really blame him. I was still upset with myself too.

I gulped down the nerves in my throat, straightened and held his gaze to the best of my ability. "I want to apologise." He continued to stare. I guessed he was waiting for me to get on with it so I proceeded. "I'm sorry. You were right, it was dumb and stupid and a huge mistake to let Boyd play in the lacrosse game. I should have stopped him but I didn't. I know that was wrong, but I promise I won't let it happen again." After that, silence.

I waited with bated breath for Derek to say something, anything. After a while I didn't care if it was positive or negative, I just wanted him to do something other than stand there and breath so loudly. Then, finally, he spoke, and I almost jumped at the sound of his voice. "Great. You can go now."

And that was it. That was all he said before he turned to go back into the subway car. And I stood there, mouth agape at what he'd just said, unable to speak because of how uninterested he seemed by the whole thing. Thankfully I did find my voice before he got away, taking a single step forward as I spoke. "I was hoping…" I paused, unsure of how to continue now that I had his attention. He'd stopped in the carriage and had turned to look back over his shoulder.

"Yes…?"

My brain rushed for something to say before I made the situation even more awkward. "I was hoping…we could do some of that extra training you were talking about." _My God I sounded pathetic!_

"I don't think so," he said, looking away again, but not getting a chance to walk as I spoke up.

"Why not?" I was seriously pushing my luck today. If I kept this up my joke to Erica about Derek killing me wasn't going to be a joke for much longer.

With a sharp intake of breath, Derek answered without turning around. "Because I'm not in the mood."

"I don't think that's it," I said, challenge in my voice, as well as a back bone that seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere. "I think you're still angry with me, and that's why you don't want to train."

"Drop it, Dylan." Still he didn't turn around.

"No," I declared. "I'm trying here. I'm sorry I let you down, but at least I'm trying to make it up to you. I'm here. I'm apologising. And I'm willing to work, but you're just being stubborn and refusing to give me a chance."

"Goodbye, Dylan," was all he said.

He then took another step into the subway carriage and something flicked inside of me. Suddenly I was so angry with him because of how stubborn and unfair he was being. I was so enraged that the shift took me over in a second and I was suddenly running towards him unleashing a challenging growl.

At that, he stopped, turning to find me lunging at him. There was surprise in his eyes, but even then he was prepared. He had the experience after all. He turned, right arm shooting out towards me with his momentum behind it. He grabbed my throat, I came to a stop and then I was out the subway carriage and pressed against the floor. He was over me too, shifted, eyes glowing red. He roared at me, leaning down so his face was right in front of mine. And he roared with such power that I couldn't help but yield.

I shifted back, not by choice, but by command. His roar had been a command, just not one I fully understood with my human mind. He, however, remained shifted, looming over me with his Alpha red eyes glaring down into my natural blue. Then he shifted back, after giving me a good long look. "Go home, Dylan," he ordered, standing so I had room to sit up.

They were the same words he'd used that night at the lacrosse game, the night the Kanima had attacked us – after he'd found out about Boyd. "I'm not going home, Derek," I replied, meeting his eyes which looked down upon me.

He sighed. "I don't care where you go, just leave."

"I'm not doing that either," I said, quickly getting up to my feet before he could say anything. "Derek, you have to know I'm genuinely sorry about what happened." He sighed again, clearly about to argue so I spoke faster, trying to get to my point before he, the Alpha, had a chance to order me again. "But I'm still new to this. It's only been a couple of weeks. Remember, you only turned me a few days before Isaac, and yet somehow you expect more of me than the others. You've put this massive weight on my shoulders.

"And I know we've got battles ahead, I know we need to know how to survive. But I still want to enjoy this life you've give me. The lives you've given all of us. I want to laugh with my Pack, with you, with my sister. I want to make memories like we were making before everything that happened that night at the school. This Pack means everything to me and I want to protect it like you do. But I also want to live, like the others do, like I think you do.

"And I'm grateful you're giving me this extra attention, that you're trying to make me better so I can be your righthand. But I'm not at that stage yet. I'm still learning and I have to earn that place at your side. You can't just say that's where I'm heading and expect me to act like I'm already there. I'm not. But I want to be. That's why I'll do the extra work, go the extra mile. Because I want to live up to your expectations, be what you need me to be for the sake of this Pack."

I stared deeply into his green eyes then, pleading with him to hear me. "So, please, give me another chance. Give me that chance to be all that. To be your Second and to help this Pack."

He stared at me for a long while, the silence stretching out between us as I held his gaze and refused to blink. I was willing him to let me back in, to let me have a chance to regain what I'd lost. I wanted what he saw in me, wanted to live up to his expectations, even if they were lofty. Because he believed I could. And other than Erica, no one else had ever believed in me. I wanted to make him proud and glad that he'd put that belief in me.

"All right," Derek finally said, drawing out the words as he briefly closed his eyes. And when they opened back up, they were kinder eyes. The eyes of the man I'd first met outside that fast-food restaurant during what felt like a lift time ago. The man who'd offered me the bite and came to me as a man trying to help not only himself but me. "Maybe I was expecting a bit much of you right out the gate. I think I still do.

"So we're going to train, and train hard. That way neither of us will be let down again." I beamed up at him, so happy and over the moon that he'd given me a second chance. "We're going to work out an intense schedule, and your going to keep to it. Because I…this Pack needs you at your best." I nodded in full agreement. Letting Derek down was one thing, but letting the Pack down… I doubted I could ever recover from something like that.

"All right, let's get started."


	19. Suspects

The next few days had been filled with school, my extensive – and exhausting – training with Derek, and what little time I could spare for Erica and my Pack brothers. At some point, Derek had sat us down and talked to us about the Kanima, going over what he knew about it. That it was just as fast and strong as us Werewolves – if not more so. And that its claws were covered in a paralytic agent that left us completely venerable after one scratch. Basically, it was pretty damn scary.

But as the days went by, Derek talked to me during our one on one training sessions. Some times he used the others to help, especially with my tracker training. But when it was just me and him, he'd talk out loud about the Kanima and what he was planning. He talked about who it could be and how best to attack and kill it. When prompted I offered me opinions and advise, even encouragement and agreement if I thought that was what he needed. Looking back that might have been when I finally started acting like his Second.

Then one night he called everyone in, minus Boyd. While he'd come along nicely, Derek didn't think he was ready for this, and so, had left him out of it. Once me, Isaac and Erica were all there, he told us what he was planning, and it made all three of us smile.

He sent me and Erica out to get who he first suspected of being the Kanima, who we found at the school lifting weights with one of his friends. We watched him struggle, did our best not to laugh at him while he tried to act like he was one of us. To act as if he had our strength. He didn't though, and if it hadn't been for his friend, the weights would have crushed him. But then his friend left and the idiot tried to lift the weight again. Only this time there was no one to help him lift the weight when he couldn't do it himself.

So me and Erica watched him squirm for a moment, before stepping into the light of the boys locker room. Erica was the one to take the weight from him. Lifting it with one hand and placing it on the stand. "Thanks," Jackson breathed out, exhausted and covered in sweat from his pitiful attempts to lift the heavy weight.

"Any time," Erica replied, and that was when Jackson realised it wasn't his friend that had helped him out. He looked straight up, finding me and Erica looming over him. His eyes widened, but before he could say anything I grabbed his throat, crushing it in my hand just enough to stop him from saying anything.

I leaned in, grinning menacingly. "Derek would like a word with you."

It had only been recently that Derek even told me about Jackson. About how after he'd bitten me, he'd also bitten Jackson, who'd come looking for him on that same night. Initially I'd been pretty annoyed with Derek for making such a dumb decision, and he hadn't been able to justify it to me.

Thankfully though, it hadn't worked. Jackson hadn't become a Werewolf and he wasn't in my precious Pack. But that was also the reason why Derek suspected him of being the Kanima. Thus why my hand was now around his throat.

He attempted to speak, but because of the hold I had, he could barely even croak. "Sounds like he's happy to come along," Erica answered for him, enjoying this as much as I was. Smiling with her hands on her hips as she watched Jackson struggle from beneath us.

"That's what I thought," I agreed, smiling to my sister. "And it sounds like he wants you to drive his Porsche." More distant croaking like noises from Jackson. Probably in protest, but it wasn't like he could do anything.

"That's so thoughtful of him," Erica said in a mockingly sweet voice, before making a show of picking up Jackson's keys with just her thumb and forefinger. She then sent Jackson a wicked smile and let out an air-headed giggle. "Hopefully I won't crash it." She wouldn't crash it, but it was funny to watch Jackson squirm all the more because of it. From there we hauled him out, stuffed him in the boot of his own car and drove him to Derek's lair. As promised I let Erica drive, but then she had to drag Jackson down into the building. Not that she didn't enjoy that too.

We entered to find Derek and Isaac waiting for us. Isaac leaning against one of the wooden columns while Derek sat on a crate placed in front of the subway carriage. Normally I might have made a mocking announcement about Jackson's arrival, but I could see from Derek's position that while we were all enjoying this, it was just business for him. He didn't like Jackson, but this was about Kanima, not him.

Once off the stairs I nodded to Isaac and he nodded back, moving from the column to assist Erica with Jackson. Not that she needed it, but I figured he'd want to ruff house the guy a little too, so why not let him. With Erica holding Jackson by his right side and Isaac his left, the two brought him before Derek and me. With me now stood at his right hand's side.

"What happened to you on the night of the full moon?" Derek asked calmly, looking down at the shard of glass in his hand. The one he'd retrieved from the school swimming pool, from the night the Kanima first attacked us. Its significance had already been explained to me along with the others. But while Derek carefully handled the shard, I watched Jackson with a darkened smile, arms folded.

"What? Nothing," Jackson snapped, still pointlessly struggling against Isaac and Erica.

Derek looked up from the shard then, staring Jackson down as he thought. "You're lying," he stated simply. Then carefully lying the thick shard of glass down on his leg, he started to pull on leather gloves.

"No, wait, I can – I can prove it." Derek raised his brow, waiting for the evidence. Jackson hesitated though, groaning a little before saying, "I…I taped myself." Derek smiled at that, as did I, though I really wanted to laugh in his face. But I had to be mature, like Derek had told me, so I was making an effort. Thankfully someone laughed though, both Isaac and Erica.

"You tapped yourself?" Isaac said mockingly.

Jackson turned to glare at him, despite the fact he was still trapped. "Yes. It was the full moon. And maybe while you were curled up in the corner having an existential crisis about turning into a monster, and she–" He jerked his chin in my direction. "–was chained up over there, all alone and forgotten, I was preparing for the so called gift your big bad Alpha promised me, and what did I get? Nothing."

I let out a low growl, my eyes flashing as I got ready to advance and slit his throat for what he'd said. But a raised gloved hand from Derek had me remaining at his side. No matter how much Jackson deserved it. I did like we'd practised though, focusing on Erica, my anchor, and managed to calm myself down enough to remember we still needed proof first. At least before the real fun could begin.

"You want proof?" Jackson continued, after seeing that I wasn't going to kill him. "Let me get the video."

Derek thought about it for a moment, before then looking to me and smiling. I smiled back, knowing exactly what he was thinking, and loving the idea. "No. No, I have a better idea," Derek said, picking up the shard of glass and showing it to Jackson as we all grinned around him.

"What is that?" Jackson asked, before I gave a nod to both Isaac and Erica. The two happily forced the not so powerful co-captain of the lacrosse team down to his knees, before Isaac took hold of his jaw and forced his mouth open. While they were doing that, Derek advanced with me at his side.

"You know, Jackson," Derek said, now standing over him. "You've always been kind of a snake. And what was it you told me about snakes, Dylan?" Derek asked with half a sideways glance towards me.

"That snakes can't be poisoned by their own venom," I happily said, as Jackson realised what it was we were about to do.

"That's right," Derek agreed. He then stepped forward and Jackson began to struggle all the more, but he was powerless against the strength of two Werewolves as they held his mouth wide open. Then, tilting the glass towards his mouth, Derek used his gloved hand to push the thin trail of liquid towards Jackson's awaiting mouth. When it reached the end of the shard, it hung there for a moment. A growing bubble that slowly began to drip towards Jackson's mouth, until finally, it fell in.

Almost instantly Jackson went limp, his body paralysed with in seconds. Issac and Erica let go, and his body collapsed onto the ground – after convulsing on the floor for a moment – unable to move as he stared up at us. Still conscious luckily. Unfortunately it did mean that he wasn't the Kanima, which was a bit disappointing. But it was still fun to watch him stare up at us while Isaac and Erica fell in line with me and Derek, to watch him suffer in ways I'd never even dreamed of before becoming a Werewolf. This was just the kind of punishment someone like Jackson deserved. To lie there helplessly, knowing that we could do anything to him. Absolutely anything. We'd taken away his power, and that was what he feared the most.

However, Derek wasn't as happy as we were, letting out a huff of irritation after briefly looking away. He didn't have the same hatred of Jackson that we did, he couldn't take anything away from this. All he saw was a boy who wasn't the Kanima, while me, Erica and Isaac saw one of the many people who'd tormented us throughout our lives finally getting what he deserved.

After a moment, Derek stepped forward and bent down to Jackson's level. "You're still a snake, Jackson," Derek said, looking the paralysed boy right in the eye, only to then look away as he murmured the next line. "Just not the one we're looking for."

With that he stood up and made his way into the subway carriage. I followed instinctively now, in case he wanted to discuss our findings or just simply use me as a sounding board. However, as I turned, I caught Isaac's eye and nodded back towards Jackson. "He's all yours," I said, bringing a smirk to his face as I sent him a confident wink. Derek had already given the go ahead, but had told me to tell Isaac once we were done. We both knew Isaac still had one more use for Jackson.

We left him to it as me and Erica followed Derek into the subway carriage, both of us standing before him as he carefully put the glass shard with the Kanima venom into a secure box that looked as though it had been made for the shard. Once secured, he pulled off the gloves and threw them down on the box before turning to us, his arms folded.

"So it's not Jackson then," Erica stated rather obviously, one hand on her hip as she flicked her hair aside so Derek could see both her brown eyes.

"No," was all Derek said, head lowering slightly in thought.

"So by deduction it must be Lydia," I pointed out, grin forming as a shared a look with Erica. "Which means I finally get to give that bitch what's coming to her."

"Not yet," Derek said curtly.

"Why not?" Erica pouted.

"Because we have to be certain," Derek said, as if spelling it out for her. He then looked over to me. "Come by here in the morning. You can pick up Isaac and I'll have some of the venom ready for you. I want you to test it on Lydia, find out if she's immune."

Still grinning, I asked, "Even if she's not, do I still get to kill her?"

"No," Derek said firmly, with a warning look.

"Fine," I groaned, rolling my eyes before another idea came to me. One involving a paralysed Lydia, a bottle of water and a rumour that she'd wet herself. I looked to Erica, remembering one of the worst experiences of her life. Oh yeah, it'd be a fitting punishment for Lydia all right. The idea of it alone made my grin return. "There's still plenty I can do without killing her," I pointed out, as Erica smiled and we started to laugh like evil geniuses.

Our laughter quickly died down however when Isaac came in, requesting a hand in dragging Jackson back out to his car. We all looked to Derek who said we were done for the night. He reminded me of my orders for tomorrow – of which I had no doubt he'd remind me of again when I came to collect Isaac and the venom – and then nodded for us to leave.

I helped Isaac this time with Jackson, carrying his legs up the stairs while Isaac carried his upper half and with Erica leading the way out. We dumped him into his car again and then drove him back to the school. Isaac had said what he had to so he remained at the lair with Derek. Once at the school, we left a couple major scratches on his Porsche, cackling away like witches as we did. Then we pulled him out to show him our handing work, reminding him that if he didn't help Isaac out, or spoke a word about what had happened, then we'd do the same thing to his face instead. Satisfied with the nights events, we left Jackson in his car waiting for the venom to leave his system and then went home for a good night's rest. Somehow, I just knew tomorrow was going to be just as eventful.

As ordered, I arrived bright and early with Erica to pick up Isaac and my sample of the venom, which Derek had ready for me in an inclosed test tube. He warned me once again to be careful with it, repeating what my goal was – to use the venom on Lydia – and then let me go. I left with Isaac, shaking my head. "Does he have to treat me like a child?" I asked rhetorically.

"Weren't you the one that let Boyd play lacrosse?" Isaac pointed out with a grin as we walked towards the car.

"Shut up, Isaac," I sneered at him, glaring through narrow eyes. "Keep in mind that one word from me, and you won't be playing lacrosse either." He just laughed at that, and in the end, I laughed too.

Once we were all in the car, I drove us to school arriving with just enough time. We then exited the car in perfect sync, which was a little scary, but I imagined it looked damn cool. The three of us then made our way into the school, shoving open the doors as we announced our presence.

As per the norm now, everyone turned to look at us. Me and Erica, the drop dead gorgeous and the most powerful girls in the school, along with Isaac, one of the school's lacrosse players and another damn good looking guy. We made our way through the corridors, heads turning every time to look at us – to envy us. I led the way with Isaac and Erica flanking me, all of us in leather jackets and soaking up their stares. Power had never felt so good first thing in the morning and it certainly never got old.

There were a couple of whispers about Isaac, about how he was wanted for questioning by the police. But the recent rumours of his name being cleared were also circulating, so we continued on, knowing Jackson had done as told. I was almost a little disappointed by that. It meant I didn't have an excuse to literally tear him a new one – new face that is.

When the bell rang for first period, and the hallways began to clear, I stopped. Isaac and Erica doing the same as I turned to face them, pulling out the vial of venom from my jacket as I did. "Not to sound like Derek, but you remember what you've got to do, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Isaac groaned, though couldn't stop grinning at the fact that he was back in school with all of us.

Erica, thankfully, was a bit more serious. I knew I could count on her. "We're going to take that venom there, and then during chemistry class, we're going to slip it into Lydia. If she's immune, we'll know she's the Kanima."

I smiled at her proudly. "Right." I held out the vial to Isaac who took it, placing it in his own jacket. "Don't lose it, and don't do anything stupid," I warned him.

"Why? Afraid of getting into trouble again with Derek?" Isaac teased.

I smirked back. "If anything happens to that vial, it'll be your head Derek's after."

"Relax, Dylan, I'm joking," Isaac said raising both his hands.

"I know," I replied with a genuinely sweet smile. "Just be careful with that stuff."

"Will do," Isaac said more seriously.

"And remember, even if she does turn out to be the Kanima, don't do anything until either me or Derek tell you to," I reminded them both. Isaac nodded in understanding and then proceed off down the hallway to his first class. My gaze followed him over my shoulder before then turning back to find Erica still stood in front of me, a bright smile on her face. "What?" I asked, feel a little embarrassed all of a sudden.

"You're just such a badass Second," Erica said giddily.

I couldn't help but smile back at her. "Thanks." I then tried to be a bit more serious, but it didn't come across that well, what with my continual smile and all. "Now off you go. We've got a job to do."

"Yes, sir, boss lady" Erica said cheekily, to which I rolled my eyes. She then turned and walked off to her class, my smile on her back before I went to my own. I was grinning the whole way there, unable to contain my excitement at finally getting Lydia back after all this time. At last, I was getting my revenge.


	20. Revenge (Pt 1)

The smile on my face was unstoppable as I made my way outside to the parking lot to meet with Derek. The test had been done and it proved Lydia was the Kanima. And that meant we were finally going to kill her. That I was finally going to get my revenge and give her what she'd always deserved. Sweet, sweet death.

"Should I assume from that smile that you know who the Kanima is?" Derek asked once I was close enough.

"Oh, yeah," I declared triumphantly. "And it's none other than Lydia Martin." Saying the words filled me with such satisfaction. I'll admit it, I'd been hoping for it to be Lydia over Jackson. I hated them both, but Lydia had always been the one to make mine and Erica's lives harder. And she could have fixed it too if she'd wanted, could have stopped the senseless bully. But she never did, and for that reason she was a monster. And now I had indisputable proof that she was in fact that very monster. A monster me and my Pack were now about to rid the world off, once and for all.

"So, what's our next move?" I asked, almost bouncing on the spot, just barely able to contain myself and the excitement that threatened to bubble over from inside of me.

"You and Boyd are coming with me," Derek began to explain, to which I instantly groaned. "Quit it," Derek ordered, but I caught the ghost of a smirk to his lips. "I know you want her dead but I need you and Boyd with me."

"But why?" I whined, not sounding like a very mature righthand I had to admit.

"Because I know what Scott and his friends will do. And I need you to help set the stage while Isaac and Erica take care of Lydia," Derek explained.

"Am I aloud to offer up an alteration to that plan?" I asked, lifting a finger in protest.

"If the alternative is you going with Erica to kill Lydia while Isaac comes with me and Boyd. Then no, you can't." I deflated, seeing that I annoyingly, wasn't going to be getting my way. _The sacrifices I made for this Pack_. But then again, Erica could always regale me with the every juicy details afterwards, and I loved a good story. I just wished I was more heavily featured in it.

Still, I pushed down my childish nature and straightened like the responsible Second I was trying to become. "Do you want me to tell the others then?" He nodded, and so I pulled out my phone to dish out the orders among the Pack. I told Boyd to head out back to the lacrosse field per Derek's instructions and meet us there. Then regrettably I gave Isaac and Erica the go ahead to go after Lydia once Derek let them know we had Scott distracted.

I got replies soon enough. Boyd confirming he was on his way and Erica happily accepting her orders. Isaac sent several messages rubbing it in my face that he was going to get to do the deed and I wasn't. Unfortunately for him, I'd been walking to the back of the school with Derek when he sent those texts and our Alpha saw them. He promised to go extra hard on Isaac for the next few training sessions, and since he was already being hard on him anyway I was now really looking forward to our next training session as a Pack.

We arrived at the lacrosse field before Boyd did, but once he joined us Derek moved into the tree line on the edge of the school's property. Lying in wait, ready to send the signal to Isaac and Erica, and join me and Boyd once it was done.

We didn't have to wait long for Scott to arrive, by which point I was sprawled out across on of the bleachers with Boyd stood ahead of me, ready to take Scott on if he made a move. "Scott! How are you?" I sang our cheerily, pushing myself up into a sitting up position as he marched over towards us.

"I want to talk to Derek, where is he?" Scott shouted over to us, still approaching.

"Sorry, Derek's busy right now," I said smugly, swing my legs off the bleachers so that they rested on the grass beneath. "But I'm always available for you, Scott," I teased.

"I'm not in the mood, Dylan," Scott replied, as if I couldn't tell that from his voice. "Where is he?"

Annoyed with his refusal to play along with me, I turned angry as I spoke. "Like I said, he's busy. So if you want to talk, you can talk to me and Boyd." I nodded at the big guy next to me, who then began to move forward to meet Scott.

"I'm don't want to fight," Scott pointed out, still advancing towards us.

"Good, 'cause I'm twice the size of you," Boyd said confidently.

"True," Scott admitted. But then as he got closer, and saw just how tall Boyd was in comparison to himself. It made my grin return. "Really, really true," Scott said again, sounding less sure of himself for a moment.

"Plus there's two of us, and only one of you," I added with a smirk.

"Yeah, but I don't remember that working out to well for you last time," Scott reminded me, once again wiping away my smirk and replacing it with a scowl.

"I admit you did pretty well at the ice rink," I conceded as I stood up. "But I'm not some newbie Werewolf anymore. I'm stronger now, more in control." With my confidence returning, so did my smile. "And I'm more than certain I can take you."

Scott readied himself for a fight, while me and Boyd remained stationary, arms casually at our sides, knowing we had the advantage. Then Scott launched himself, tackling Boyd to the ground. I broke into a sprint, at them with in a second. Scott was already back on his feet, but I was also in motion. This time I tackled him, gliding over Boyd and taking Scott to the ground with me.

I felt Boyd rise behind me, but it didn't matter, I had Scott now. He was trapped beneath me as I straddled his waist, pinning him as I captured both his arms and held them above his head. He tried to break free but my hold was too good, and already my claws were digging into his wrists, drawing some blood.

I smiled down at him in satisfied victory, blonde hair dripping down on either side of my face. Realising I had him, he looked up to see what I was going to do next. "Now, what Scott?" I said in seductive sweetness. "I've got your arms." I dug my claws in a little deeper, making him squirm for a second. "I've got your hips." I shifted my weight over him, moving from left to right, brushing him teasingly. "Let's see what else I can grab." I laughed, seeing how comfortable he was from the position I had him in. If I'd been Allison all would be fine, but I wasn't Allison, and this would not be helping things between them. Which gave me all the more incentive to continue.

That was until my Alpha joined us. "Release him." At my Alpha's order, I let go of Scott's arms, and regrettably got off of him. _There goes my fun_, I thought as Scott climbed back up to his feet, wrists already having healed minus a little blood that was still on his skin. "She failed the test, Scott," Derek said, in reference to Lydia, continuing on as if my little tease with Scott hadn't just happened.

Apparently Scott preferred it that way, continuing on himself despite the slight blush to his cheeks. I chose to take that as a job well done, smiling to myself as he spoke. "Yeah, which doesn't prove anything. Lydia's different."

"I know," Derek admitted, fully serious as he spoke. "At night she turns into a homicidal walking snake."

"I'm not going to let you kill her," Scott declared defensively. Unfortunately for Scott however, he'd fall into our trap as our Alpha had expected. Derek looked to me and Boyd, lifting his brow in amusement while we both grinned.

He then turned back to Scott, simply saying, "Who said I was gonna do it?" Scott seemed confused by this for a moment, but then it clicked and his head shot back towards the school. He'd remembered that there were five members in this Pack.

I could see what he was about to do, but I was faster, anticipating his actions. I swung out with my leg, catching his and he went straight down onto the grass. I smirked when I saw him groaning. He hadn't been expecting the attack and thus had left him mildly winded from the sudden drop. I really was getting quite good at this.

"I don't know why you think you have to protect everyone now, Scott. But even so, Lydia has killed people and she's gonna do it again, and next time it's gonna be one of us," Derek explained as I fell back in line between him and Boyd.

"What if you're wrong?" Scott groaned up from the ground.

"She was bitten by an Alpha, it's her," Derek insisted.

"You saw that thing up close. You know it's not like us," Scott continued to argue.

"But it is!" Derek snapped, getting sick of Scott's denial. Frankly, so was I. "We're all shapeshifters. You don't know what you're dealing with. It happens rarely and it happens for a reason."

"What's reason?" Scott asked carefully, trying to lower the tension, and to my surprise, it worked.

"Sometimes the shape you take reflects the person that you are." Then in further surprise, I watched as Derek offered Scott his hand. Scott took it, and I did my best not to let my eyes widen at this strange scenario playing out before me, as my Alpha pulled the Omega up to his feet. But then conversation continued with Derek pointing out, "Even Stiles calls her cold blooded."

Scott paused for a moment, thinking before he then said something I'd never thought of. "What if she's immune? What if she's got something inside of her that makes her immune to the bite – which is why she didn't get paralysed by the venom?"

"No one's immune to the bite!" Derek argued back. "I've never seen it or heard of it. It's not possible."

Letting out a groan of frustration, Scott briefly turned away, running two frantic hands through his hair. I smirked, enjoying the the fact that he couldn't break our brick wall of an Alpha. But Derek was right, Lydia was the Kanima and she was going to die regardless of what Scott said. But yet again he surprised me, by turning around and looking at me instead of Derek.

"Dylan?" As he addressed me the smirk flew from my face, genuine shock passing over me. I had no idea why he was suddenly talking to me instead of our Alpha, the one who was in charge. "You have to know this is wrong? I get that you don't like Lydia, but murdering her? You're not a monster. None of us are, not even Lydia. And even if she is, let me just confirm it before you do anything."

It took me a minute to recover. Actually more than a minute, quite a few actually, as I felt not only Scott's eyes on me, but my Alpha's as well. But whatever Scott was planning on, it wasn't going to work. I knew in my heart Lydia was the villain in this story, just like she'd been even before I became a Werewolf. She was the Kanima, and I was with my Alpha on this, she had to die. Maybe I didn't think that entirely for the right reasons, maybe I was being selfish and just wanted revenge. But the fact was she was a monster, a monster that had now killed multiple people. And like Derek had said, she had to be stopped.

"We have all the proof we need," I growled angrily towards Scott, for whatever trick he was trying to pull on me. "We know Lydia's the Kanima and we're going to kill her today." I then stepped forward towards Scott, squaring up to him. "She's always been a monster, Scott. Even before she became this thing. She made my life, and my sister's life, hell. For that alone she deserves to die. The fact that she's the Kanima is just the final nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned."

I paused, smiling as I glanced towards the school. "Besides, it's probably already over by now anyway."

"I doubt that," Scott replied, a smirk of his own forming and throwing me off.

"Why?" I asked without thinking.

As he spoke, Scott started to back away. "I was hopping I could convince you to give me a chance, but then again… I wasn't counting on it." I cursed under my breath. He'd known we were distracting him, or that the very least we wouldn't let him back into the building once he met us out here. And so he'd come up with a backup plan to counter our own.

I blinked and then Scott was running back towards the school. I felt Boyd move from beside me but I held up my hand to stop him before he could pass me. I then lifted my head high in the air and inhaled, scents and smells rushing up to greet me as I sorted through them, looking for one that I knew would be in the air. Lydia's.

As I thought, her scent was in the air. It was faint, but it meant she'd more than likely left the school. I'd also picked up Stiles and Allison's scents as well. He had played us. _Damn it!_ "His friends have taken Lydia out of the school," I quickly announced, informing Derek who nodded in agreement when I looked to him along with Boyd.

"I know," he said, voice calm despite my own alarm at the thought of Lydia getting away, at escaping her punishment. _No! I wouldn't let her escape, not again. I will get my revenge!_ "Come on," Derek said, nodding his head in a command for us to follow him. "Call Erica and Isaac. Tell them to meet us out front. It's time for a hunt."


	21. Revenge (Pt 2)

It wasn't much of a hunt, but it was a chance to try out some of my tracker training with Derek. That said, once we arrived at Lydia's location, I felt like Derek had known we were coming here all along. I chose to ignore that fact and look at the entire experience as good practise, regardless of how I felt about the wasted time. I mean the sun was already setting. But I also suspected my Alpha had timed that deliberately too. After all, against humans, we had another advantage at night, because we Werewolves can see better in the dark. And with Scott's scent nowhere to be smelt, I could tell we only had three humans between us and Lydia.

Some further sniffing confirmed to me that the three other humans were Stiles, Allison and Jackson. So our opponents were two idiots on the lacrosse team and one Hunter. The Hunter was obviously the biggest threat, but that said, she was our age and hardly seemed as willing to kill as the other Hunters Derek had described. Were as I was more than happy to kill her, and anyone else that got between me and Lydia.

"So are we going to stand out here all night, or are we going to kill the bitch already?" Isaac asked, a tad on the impatient side. But again, I was glad he'd asked what I'd been wanting to myself. Even if it wasn't with as much respect as I would have said it.

"Relax," Derek said calmly. He was stood slightly ahead of the rest of us, even though we were all in a line in front of Scott's house. "It's not like they can stop us."

"Yeah but standing around here–"

"Isaac," I cut him off, sending him a glare that silenced him. We were both stood on Derek's left so I was able to look at him directly without having anyone else in between us. My warning worked, shutting him up even if he was clearly still itching to get this underway. Like I said, I was much the same, but I had more respect for Derek than he apparently had. "He does have a point though," I said calmly as I turned towards our Alpha. "The longer we wait the longer Scott has to come and join them. That means dragging this out, which means making more noise, which will attract attention."

He turned to look at me, smirking as he spoke. "And this from the girl who let our newest wolf play lacrosse?"

The other male members of the pack snickered, but Boyd quickly shut up when Erica slammed her elbow into his ribs, with a loud enough thud for us all to hear. "I don't plan on making the same mistake twice," I said smoothly, and he seemed to appreciate that before looking back to the house.

The curtains on either side of the front door were once again drawn. Every so often Allison and Stiles had opened them up to peek out at us, during which we'd just smiled back confidently until they hid away again. We all knew Lydia was up the stairs with Jackson, talking about some pointless key issue. She probably didn't even know what was about to happen, which made this all the more fun.

"All right," Derek finally said. "Dylan, take Isaac and try the back door. If you can get in quietly, do it. Once your in, open the front door and I'll send Erica in to join you. If you can't get in, come back here, understood?" I nodded, then rolled my head in an order for Isaac to follow me. He was more than happy to as we casually strolled around behind the house. From what I could hear, Allison and Stile had no idea of what we were planning, still debating whether to call her father or not.

I hoped they didn't. It would end in the same way, Derek had assured me of that, but this was personal for me, for my sister, for my Pack. It should be us who gets to put this thing down, to put Lydia down. Not the Hunters. In any case, they seemed no closer to a decision as I tried the back door, finding it unlocked. I glanced over my shoulder to Isaac, smirk lighting up as he grinned back. I was gonna have to thank Scott for being such an idiot after this.

Opening the door, me and Isaac slipped in before closing it behind us. Still having not been heard, we silently moved into the hallway, our eyes already glowing from within the darkness. We found Allison and Stiles still by the windows, Allison with her crossbow in hand, aimed at the window – presumably at the Werewolves who were still outside. Stiles was at the other window, looking out as he watched them, or as it turned out, counted them.

"Where the hell is Dylan and Isaac?" But it was too late now. We were in, and they were defenceless against us.

"Right here, Stiles," I said announcing our presence. Allison swung to try and aim the crossbow at us, but I knocked her weapon wielding arm aside and kicked out her legs from under her, sending her to the floor with a thud. I smiled at my handing work, smelling the blood that was leaking into her mouth through a cut inside her cheek.

Meanwhile Isaac had grabbed Stiles and thrown him into the living room area. I stepped over to join him, leaving the extremely unthreatening Allison on the floor behind me. And to the idiot's credit, Stiles didn't wet himself, despite the fact that Isaac was towering over him, eyes glowing brightly. "Remember not to hurt him too badly," I pointed out, knowing how it would make Erica feel to see her crush battered and bruised.

"I'll try to," Isaac replied with a grin over his shoulder, before turning back to Stiles and advancing.

I turned back around, fully expecting to have my second round with Allison, but to my delight she'd ran up the stairs. _No where to run now._ I thought with a dark grin as I made my way over to the front door. It hardly required rocket science to open it up, holding it open proudly once I did. I grinned over to my Alpha and fellow Pack members, waiting for my sister to join me in the final kill. Derek nodded and she ran up to join me and my giddy smile.

As we walked up the stairs, I caught Erica's glance into the living room where Isaac was throwing Stiles around. There was a moment of sadness in her eyes, before they steeled, remembering why we were here. She looked up to me, and her grin slid back into place along with mine.

It was time to get our revenge.

"Stiles! It's here!" came Allison's voice from behind one of the upstairs doors.

"Well, obviously," I muttered with a roll of the eyes that made Erica laugh, while we positioned ourselves in front of the door from which Allison's voice had come from. "Do you want to do it, or should I?" I asked politely, though I really wanted to do it. She must have known that though, my thoughtful sister, because she said I could do it. And it was one hell of a rush as I kicked the door open. The bolt locking it breaking apart as the door swung into the wall, revealing Allison stood in what I assumed to be Scott's bedroom, her crossbow aimed at us.

"Since I'm in a good mode. I'll let you drop that crossbow and walk out, so long as you leave us Lydia," I said to Allison, doing my best to be friendly while Erica folded her arms at my side.

Allison shook her head, but I could see the tremble in that moment, smell the fear on her. It was another rush I was more than willing to take, smiling at the frightened little Huntress. "I'm not going to let you hurt her."

I looked to Erica and we both burst out laughing. "And what are you going to do to stop us?" Erica laughed out.

We'd clearly gotten to her, as a shiver of rage passed through her, but even so, she had one bolt in that crossbow. And if she fired it she'd never load another before one of us grabbed her. And once we had her she was done for.

"Go on then," I prompted her, making her jump a little as I took a step into the room. But still she didn't fire. "Shoot me if your going to." I waited but still nothing. I smiled, seeing how weak she really was in comparison to me and Erica.

"No. I didn't think you would." I tilted my head to the side, smiling as I watched her take a step back, pressing herself against the wall.

"You know what I've been thinking about, Erica?" I said casually as I turned to my sister.

"What?" she replied cheerily.

I looked back to Allison, an evil look in my eye. "I've been wondering what it would feel like to steal someone's boyfriend. I mean, it must be a pretty sick rush of power."

Of course me and Erica had already caused a fair amount of break ups around school. We hadn't gotten into any serious relationships but we'd had plenty of flings which then resulted in a number of breakups, which made the experience all the more fun for us both. Getting back at all of those that had wronged us. But that hadn't been stealing someone's boyfriend, that had been temporary. I wanted to see what it was like to steal them and hold onto them.

"I think I might try it with Scott actually," I added, looking to Erica as we both grinned.

When I looked back to Allison, I could see in her eyes she was visibly worried. Obviously all the secret get togethers and the quick kisses weren't enough to comfort her pretty little head. There was still a fear inside her, a fear he would leave her for someone better, someone more like him, someone like the older girl who'd been brushing her hips against him that time in the hallway.

"I don't think it's gonna be that hard either," I continued, turning my attention back to Allison, who tried to hid her thoughts from her face. Tightening her hold on the crossbow. "Because why would he bother waiting around for five minutes with you, when he can have me anytime he wants…. When he can do, anything he wants with me," I teased with a menacing grin before she fired the crossbow.

My hand shot out by instinct – Derek would be proud – and I grabbed the bolt that had been aiming for my sister. I looked to it, then turned back to Allison with a furious glare. So that was how she wanted to do it. I took her boyfriend so her response was to take my sister! She was going to pay for even thinking such a thought.

"I'm going to make you regret…" My words fell from my mouth and as I went to advance on her. My body then fell too, collapsing onto the floor. I tried to move but nothing responded. I could just see Allison from where I lay, but I couldn't see Erica who was calling my name. It took me a moment to realise what had happened, that I'd been paralysed. Then it hit me, the Kanima venom.

At that moment I caught Allison's moment towards the window. I felt the movements against the floor as Erica leapt after her. And then came another thud. Silence stretched out for a moment, until I heard the footsteps of the one still standing. They stopped by me, then grabbed a handful of my hair to pull me up by. My head was turned, and I was unable to do anything about it, as Allison showed me my paralysed sister on the floor by the window.

I wanted to growl. I so badly wanted to growl. To let out the rage that was boiling inside of me. More than that though, I wanted to hurt Allison. To tear her limb from limb for humiliating me and for doing this to Erica. But I was helpless, completely frozen and at her mercy as she dropped my head back down on the floor, leaning down so I could see her smug perky little face.

"Stay away from my boyfriend, Bitch," was all she said, before smiling triumphantly back at me. All I could do was glare, and let my eyes speak for me, telling her that this was not over and I _would_ get even with her. But she pulled away, unthreatened by my glare. And why would she be. I was now the defenceless one, and she had all the power.

I'd been so close to my revenger, to mine and Erica's revenge…and again it'd been snatched away from us. Like everything good in our lives.

I wanted to cry. Cry at how unfair everything was. Becoming a Werewolf was meant to change all this, give us power no one – nothing else – could rival. And yet here I was sprawled out on the floor, along with my sister. Both of us suffering silently until I smelt Scott.

He picked us both up and carried us down stairs by the waist. I hated him so much in that moment, hated them all for besting us and treating us like naughty little kids. Then to add further embarrassment to an already horrific day, he threw us out onto the front law, followed shortly by an unconscious Isaac who he'd apparently knocked out.

Part of me was grateful for not landing on my face when we were thrown out. But then I found myself quickly regretting that when I saw Derek looking down at us. His eyes filled with annoyance, irritation, mild anger and disappointment. The same disappointment I'd spent days trying to recover from last time, and now here I was again, back to square one because of one stupid Hunter. And it had all started out so well…

Thankfully, our Alpha's gaze didn't remain on the three of us, as he lifted it to look at Scott, Allison and Stiles who were stood on the front porch. "I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott. You're not an omega, you're already an Alpha of your own Pack." He had been smiling at the stupid omega, who continued to impress him more than any of us apparently.

_I really just want this day to be over now…please._

Derek's smile then grew as he said to Scott, "But you know you can't beat me."

"I can hold you off until the cops get here," Scott pointed out, and he was right. We all knew it too. This was over, for now. But we would get Lydia and I would get my revenge.

But then in one second all those thoughts flew away from my head, when I saw the Kanima on the roof of Scott's house. Apparently having heard it too, Scott and co ran off the porch and onto the lawn. Looking up to see that it had been above them.

Then, as if just seeing all of us down on the lawn below, it let out a hiss, before taking off into the night. It was looking like my revenge was going to have to wait.

The next one to speak was Derek, presumably to Boyd. "Get them out of here," he ordered. I might have objected if I could speak. But then for the second time in a matter of seconds all my thoughts were whisked away. As I watched Lydia Martin march out onto the porch of Scott's house.

"Would someone please tell me what the _hell_ is going on?" she demanded, clearly shaken up by the whole ordeal – of which she probably only knew half the story.

And then the realisation hit me. One which I didn't want to admit, but had no choice but to. Lydia wasn't the Kanima. It just wasn't that fast, and her cloths couldn't have magically appear on her after shifting. They might as well have been standing in the same room, but even if they hadn't been, the scene before us all proved one thing. Lydia was not the Kanima. Which left all of us wondering just who it was.

There was a long stretch of silence, and no one moved. At least until Derek repeated his order to Boyd. "Get them out of here. Now. Take them back to the lair, and wait for me." With the dramatic reveal now behind us, I can only assume Boyd nodded before I felt my body being lifted up. He slung me around shoulders, then tucked Erica under one arm and held Isaac by the waist of his jeans. In all honesty, I was surprised he was able to hold all three of us at once, never mind carry us. It wasn't easy for him though, he could only walk, but none of us other than Derek would have been able to do what he was doing right now. Without a doubt, Boyd was the most physically strong amongst the Pack. That was probably why Derek had turned him.

And so, Boyd carried the Pack away, literally on his back, while I watched Derek and Scott take off after the Kanima, leaving Allison and Stiles to deal with Lydia. Lydia who wasn't the Kanima. Lydia who I no longer would have an excuse – at least in Derek's eyes – to kill. I'd missed my one and only window to rid myself, and Erica, off her. To rid the world of her.

_This day couldn't be any more of a disappointment,_ I thought as I uncontrollably swung back and forth from Boyd's back. Little did I know there was still more to come…


	22. Not So Dead

It took a good hour or so before I finally started to get some feeling back. Even then it was a slow recovery. At fist all I could do was wiggle my toes and lift my finger. I probably could have talked before that, but I was sulking. Angry with myself for having been bested by stupid Allison. Although I was more angry with Allison, who I kept daydreaming about killing along with Lydia.

Before I was fully recovered, Isaac came to and had Boyd explain what had happened to him. He moped around for a bit too, before making the stupid decision to try and tease me in my paralysed state. It went pretty well for him at first, when all I could do was snap and snarl at him while he mocked and poked me. But then I got feeling back in my leg, and kicked him right in the groin. He buckled and collapsed next to me, clinging to the space between his legs as I grinned at him. He didn't make that mistake again.

That was the only real highlights until I was able to stand up again. Once I was healed I spent the rest of the time sat with Erica who healed up around the same time as I did. Eventually Isaac got back on his feet and started pacing, while Boyd remained stationary against on of the support beams. For a while I let my eyes follow Isaac back and forth without thinking about it. It was only when Erica took my hand that my eyes left Isaac to look at her instead.

She didn't meet my gaze though, head lowered in thought. Probably feeling just as embarrassed and ashamed as I was after our latest failure. When she still didn't look my way, though continued to hold my hand, I turned, lowering my own head as we waited. Waited for our Alpha to return with news.

It was a good couple of hours before he did finally return to the lair. As he entered the whole Pack rose to attention; me and Erica stood up, Isaac stopped pacing and Boyd pushed off the beam he'd been up against. All eyes going to Derek. Isaac was the first to ask the obvious question, only just getting it out before me. "What happened?"

Derek stepped of the last step of the stairs, glancing at all of us for a second before he resumed walking again. "I killed it," he said casually, making his way over to subway carriage.

There were various reactions to this news. Boyd seemed pretty pleased with the news, Erica was sighing in relief and Isaac and I were full of questions. This time however, I was the first one to speak, once the news had settled in. "How?" I asked, not doubting my Alpha's abilities, just extremely curious.

"I slit its throat," Derek explained, looking back as he stood in the doorway to the subway carriage, a clear weight having been lifted from his shoulder. I personally was greatly relieved by this news. Having been knocked out by this thing once and paralysed by its venom only recently, I had no desire to face it again. Plus I liked being among the apex predators in town.

"Seriously? It was that easy?" Isaac asked skeptically, arms folded.

"Yeah. It was," Derek said confidently, letting out a little smile for us all. _Maybe it hadn't been such a bad day after all_, I thought. For me, it still wasn't that great, but for the Pack, it had just been raised from a two to about a five or six out of ten.

"Well, great," Isaac said happily, though the sarcasm was there and it only grew as he continued. "I guess all our problems are behind us now. That is if we don't include the Hunters, the full moon and everything else going on around here." Despite his tone, which was really starting to bug me. He had a point. The Kanima had been just one of our problems and we still had plenty more on the horizon.

"True, but unlike the Kanima, I know what I'm doing on a full moon. And with it out of the way I can focus on your training so that your ready too," Derek explained calmly as he stepped out of the carriage to converse with us.

"And the Hunters?" Erica asked, having sat back down on our crate after the Kanima news.

"I know how to fight and defend against Hunters too. The important thing is, the unknown element in all of this has been taken care of," Derek stressed in the mildest way possible. He was happy, I could tell and I was glad. The Pack had needed a win.

"So what's our next move then?" I asked, stepping towards him. Like the responsible Second I was, I wasn't going to let him forget about all our problems just because of one victory. He needed to keep thinking ahead. We all did.

"For now, go home and rest," Derek said with an oddly sympathetic look towards me. "It's been a long day and you all need to recover. We'll meet up tomorrow as usual for training, and then we can talk about what we deal with next." I liked that, the idea of us as a Pack discussing what we were going to tackle next. I understood I might be getting my hopes up and that Derek ultimately had final say, but it was nice to know he was at least going to start listening to everyone and not just use me as a sounding board.

As per his orders we left to go home. Isaac remained obviously, still living with Derek for the time being. Since my car was still at school I couldn't offer Boyd a lift, but he understood. I suggested Erica walk home with him but she seemed content to come with me to get the car from the school. I was fine with this so we walked as a three until Boyd split off to catch a late night bus.

After that me and Erica walked on our own towards the school and through the quiet streets of Beacon Hills. We ideally chatted about school and boys for a while, a couple of movies coming out that we wanted to go and see when we had the chance, a few up coming parties we'd been invited to by several individuals. Then another comfortable silence fell as we crossed a street. Looking at her, I thought carefully before I spoke again.

"Are you all right?" I asked. There was another silence before she answered me.

"Now…yeah," Erica answered. She then lifted her head, blonde hair naturally moving back as she glanced over towards me. "But…when I was paralysed. It…It…It felt like…" I could see the tears creeping in, the old fear returning. I understood, and I didn't want her to finish that sentence so I finished it for her, hoping that might lessen the pain somehow.

"It reminded you of your seizures," I said. She whimpered, nodding before I pulled her against me, stopping where we were. I let her cry into me, stroking her back in a smoothing motion. "I'm sorry, Erica. I'm so sorry." She pulled away after a moment, not wanting to cry anymore as she dabbed her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. We'd both agreed we were done doing that. I smiled positively back at her, trying to lift her spirits as she too tried to push herself up. "But it's gone now. Derek killed it and you won't ever have to go through that again," I promised her, watching as she put on a brave smile.

And no sooner had those words left my mouth, did my head shoot towards the alleyway we were next too.

I'd heard something. Erica had too. Both of us looking into the darkness, knowing there was someone, something, in there. Everything had gone quiet. I sniffed the air. There was a scent, but a strange damp scent, something unnatural to my nose.

I readied myself for a fight, Erica doing the same from behind me. Both our eyes glowing as the thing revealed itself, crawling from the shadows on all fours. I gasped, and I know Erica did too because I couldn't have imagined why she wouldn't have.

It was the Kanima.

It let out a hiss towards us and because we were in shock, neither of us growled back. Our eyes must have been threatening enough though, because it leapt towards us like a gun shot. My instinct kicked in at last and I turned, grabbing Erica and dove to the ground as the monster passed by above us.

A burst of pain erupted from my shoulder but I didn't have time to react to it, not with the Kanima right there. Not with Erica in danger.

I was back up, growling as I locked eyes with the scaled beast. It hissed back. I knew I couldn't win, if an Alpha hadn't been able to kill it I stood no chance. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight, not with Erica between us.

It lunged, and I leapt into the air to greet it. We grabbed onto each other, clattering to the ground as Erica called out my name. I was already lost in the heat of battle though, trying to keep mental notes in mind while me and Kanima rolled back and forth.

Its claws and its tail. The venom came from its claws, and its tail was another limb it could use to fight, giving it one more than me. _Avoid_ was the word that echoed in my mind. So the first chance I got I pushed away, rolling away from the creature and back up onto all fours.

The Kanima had adopted a similar stance and hissed again. I felt the shift take over, felt the anger inside of me, the threat towards Erica pushing it forward. I'm smiled with my canines, eyes glowing brighter now that I'd shifted. I let my claws scrap against the ground, leaving little white lines beneath them, before I growled in response and charged. The Kanima did the same. But then before impact it leapt over me, it's tail going around my neck and cutting of my air instantly.

My claws reached up to try and free myself, but already my strength was leaving me, the blackness flooding in from all sides. It was squeezing so tightly I was sure it was going to snap my neck. Suddenly I was dragged off my feet, brought face to face with the monster as it hissed again, staring into my eyes as it choked the life out of me.

Then came another growl, this time from Erica. We both looked, me and the Kanima, to see Erica, having fully shifted, lunging towards us. The Kanima moved aside, but that only gave Erica a clearer shot at her real target, its tail. With everything she had she grabbed onto it, digging her claws in as far as they would go until the Kanima made a noise that I could only call a scream.

It held onto me for a moment before its tail then unwound from around my neck. I dropped to the ground, coughing and spluttering as I struggled to take in as much air as I could. My awkward breathing caught Erica's attention, leaving her vulnerable to the Kanima's tail that quickly swiped Erica's feet out from under her. As she fell, she lost her grip and the tail slid through her grasp.

I started to move as quickly as my body allowed me, fully expecting it to try and kill Erica then. But instead it ran off into another alleyway, vanishing from sight.

Helping Erica up to her feet, we held onto each other as we waited for it to come back. It never did. Even so we stood there, waiting until we both had the strength and courage to move.

Despite the fact that the school – and our car – was closer, we turned and ran back the way we came. Back towards the lair, towards Derek, towards the Pack, towards safety. The whole way back I never let go of Erica's hand, and she didn't let go of mine. We'd shifted back without us realising, presumably after the Kanima had fled. I assumed that based on the few people we passed who didn't seem to react to our appearance, other than by getting out of our way as we ran by.

When we got to the lair, we ran in, slamming the door behind us before racing down the stairs. Only stopping when we reached the bottom to finally catch our breath as Isaac walked over from his corner. "What the hell is going on with you two?" he asked, frowning at us both. Our wide eyed stares quickly had him changing his tune though, once he saw the panic in our eyes. "What happened?"

With both of us still hunched over, hands on our knees, and catching our breath, it took a second before I had the air I needed to answer. "Derek? Where's Derek?" was the first thing I said. He needed to know the Kanima was alive and he needed to know it right now.

"What is it?" came his voice, having silently appeared in the subway carriage door.

"The Kanima!" Erica shrieked, prompting Derek to frown as he watched Erica madly gesture towards the stairs.

"It's still alive," I said more calmly, even though saying it made me tremble. "The Kanima is still alive."

"What?" Derek replied in astonishment, stepping from the subway carriage.

"It attacked us!" Erica continued to shriek, still shaking from head to toe over the encounter. "It just jumped out of the shadows and attacked us right there in the street! You said you killed it!" Erica shouted, near tears once more as she marched over towards Derek, stopping just a few steps shy.

"I thought I did," admitted Derek quietly, apparently shaken by the news just as we were.

"Yeah, well, apparently you should have made sure," Isaac muttered bitterly.

"Shut it, Isaac," I snapped over my shoulder at him, sending him a glare that he matched with his own.

"No! I mean come on, this is getting ridicules. How hard is it to kill one lizard–" Isaac was cut off by a loud bang. The sound of metal bending to a superior force. I had been looking at Isaac, ready to give him hell when the noise caught both our attentions and we turned to see Derek having punched the side of the subway carriage. His back was turned to us, and his fist was heavily imbedded in metal that had caved to his supernatural strength.

With a yank he pulled out his undamaged fist, shaking it before he placed it in his other hand and turned to face us all. Erica stepped back towards me, now even more scared – which I'm sure hadn't been Derek's intention. I took a silent breath and steadied myself, while Isaac lowered his head like a child who knew he was in trouble for talking back.

Derek wasn't giving him much attention though, apparently so angry with himself he hadn't noticed Isaac's lack of respect. _Luckily for him_, I thought, sending the younger teen a sideways glare before refocusing on Derek.

Our Alpha took in a long breath, then steadily let it out through his nostrils, before finally letting his hands separated. "All right… All right, let me think for a bit," Derek said as he re-entered the subway carriage, closing the door behind him before I had a chance to ask if he wanted me to join him. Rather than go after him, I decided to take the chance to regroup with the members of my Pack and rest. Like Derek had said earlier, we needed it. Even more so now that the Kanima had returned.

Isaac showed us over to his corner of the lair were he lived, for all intents and purposes, and we pulled over some crates so we all had a place to sit. While I sat on a double crate with Erica, letting her rest her head against me, Isaac brought us something to eat and drink. _See, he could be nice when he wanted to be, like he had been when he first turned._ I assumed the fluctuation in character was the same reason for him as it was for me and Erica. When we all first turned we'd embraced the new us, perhaps a little too much. Now it was about finding a balance between who we were and who we could be now. Making sure that we didn't lose what made us _us_.

Quickly though, the psychology of it all made my head spin and I decided to stop thinking and get something to eat and drink. I made sure Erica took something before letting her fall asleep, her head resting on my lap.

Isaac had been sat opposite us, hands clasped together and smiling as he watched us both. "You're good with her," he suddenly said, meaning it as genuine compliment. I took it as such.

"Thanks," I said, eyes remaining on Erica as I softly stroked her hair. She stirred for a moment before then settling back down, letting out a breath of air. "You had a brother didn't you?" I said after a moment, looking over towards him. He nodded back slowly, though his eyes didn't lift to meet mine.

"Yeah," he said slowly. He paused, then added, "But he was nothing like you. He didn't look out for me or protect me the way you do with Erica." He let the silence take hold after that.

"You know, even since you joined the Pack, I've kinda seen you like a little brother I guess," I suddenly said. This time though, it was me who lowered my gaze to Erica, playing with her hair while Isaac looked over towards me.

"Really?" he asked, and I heard the hope in his voice.

"Yeah," I admitted with a smile before I looked up to meet his eyes. "I guess it could be a Pack bond thing or whatever. But you're just so…little brotherly, I guess."

"How so?" Isaac asked with a chuckle.

"Well, you're younger than me obviously. You're cute but I wouldn't say I'm attracted to you."

"Thanks," Isaac said with a roll of the eyes, though he smiled all the same.

"You're also a complete ass," I added, to which we laughed. "But you can be sweet when you wanted to be. I don't know, but all that just makes me look at you and think, _brother_."

Isaac smiled before lowering his head, embarrassment in his voice as he said, "I guess I kinda see you like a big sister too."

"Pack bond?" I asked.

"Yeah," he answered uncertainly. "Can't think why else I'd put up with you."

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped back with a grin as I threw a water bottle at him which he ducked to avoid. We started laughing again which awoke Erica. She grumbled for a bit but quickly lightened up with the help of me and Isaac. We then continued chatting for another half an hour before Derek stepped out of the subway carriage.

At that we all went quiet, eager to hear what our Alpha had to say. When he spoke though, he was looking solely at me, despite the fact he was addressing the room. "We're going to need Scott's and Stiles' help to kill the Kanima." We all frowned together, sharing looks among one another before looking back to Derek, still frowning.

"Why?" me and Isaac both asked at once.

Of course, rather than give an answer right away, Derek turned and walked over to a chest at the other end of the lair. Naturally we three followed, first me, then Isaac, and finally Erica. As we walked, Derek answered our question. "Because it's harder to kill than I thought and I still don't know who it is." All good points, but I still wasn't particularly fond of asking for help outside of the Pack. Especially to people who'd been our enemies, what, eight hours ago?

"And they do?" Isaac asked as Derek stopped in front of a chest and we gathered around him.

"They might," he answered looking to Isaac briefly, before then turning towards me and Erica. "Which is why I need you two to get on their good side."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked skeptically, folding my arms. "After what just happened, I really doubt they're going to buy it."

Derek smirked slightly, a knowing smirk. "You saw the way Scott talked to you the other day, how he tried to convince you it was wrong to kill Lydia after he tried with me." I did remember that, but I was still unsure why Scott had tried that at all. As if hearing my thoughts, Derek continued with, "He did it because he thinks he can change your mind. So let him keep on thinking that, let him think it's a possibility."

"And what about Stiles?" Erica asked, grinning at the thought of her crush.

"Yeah, that one's never going to trust us," I argued, raising my brow towards Derek who continued to smirk.

"I'm sure Erica's more than capable of handling Stiles." While I agreed with that physically, I wasn't so sure about mentally. Erica's feelings were still there for Stiles, which if he found out about could very easily allow him to turn the tables on her. And though he was now looking at Erica – because why wouldn't he – that didn't mean he'd become putty like everyone else. In fact he'd proved several times now to be quite resilient to anything other than brute force. Something I wasn't sure Erica would use without me present.

Although I didn't voice my concerns, the Alpha was obviously aware of them. "But if it worries you that much, then go after one of them together. All I want is you to get on their good side and to find out what they know."

"Easy peasy, right, Sis?" Erica asked playfully, as she adopted the same stance as me and knocked me with her hips. I turned towards her, finding a confident grin on her face. I didn't bother answering, just smiled back as we both knew we could handle this. We weren't going to fail our Alpha again.

"You know, the full moon's coming, Derek," Isaac then pointed out in a serious and obviously concerned tone.

"I'm aware of that," Derek replied, before opening up the chest in front of us – which had a strange symbol of three interconnecting spirals on it. Once done, Derek began pulling out its contents, a series of very big and very old chains. The same chains that had been used on me during my first full moon, and would be again on my second.

"These look comfortable," Erica declared rhetorically as she pulled out another set of chains. She grinned at Derek who took the chains from her before adding them to the pile he'd made on the floor.

"You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted," Isaac continued to speak, a mixture of annoyance and worry.

"There hasn't been time," Derek said simply, continuing to unload the chains. That of course hadn't been completely true. If he spent my extra training time training the others too, then they might well be at the same stage I was, and I was so close to being able to control my shifts. So very close. But recently Derek had confirmed to me it was unlikely I'd be able to gain complete control before the full moon. I knew the basics of how to shift, use anger to do so and then use my anchor to pull me back. It was just hard to hit the right amount of anger in order to shift, which I'd tried doing multiple times. Shifting back was easy enough, but the full moon would test how much control over that I really had. None of the others however, were close enough to that level of control.

"But if you have to lock us all up during the full moon, that means you're alone against the Argents," Isaac pointed out, panic raising in his voice. I had to admit, it had me worried too, and while it might be possible to teach me enough control to help him on the full moon, he'd never be able to teach the others in time.

Derek however, didn't seem that concerned about the Hunters or the approaching full moon. "They haven't found us," he said comfortably as he shut the chest, having taken out all he needed from it.

"_Yet_," Isaac pointed out, the key word that was missing from the end of Derek's sentence. Derek ignored him however, and started walking off towards the other end of the lair, some chains from the pile in hand, while the rest of us turned to watch him. "So how about we forget the Kanima?" Isaac suggested.

"We can't!" Derek snapped, swinging back around to face us, his Betas. I looked at him softly, trying to will him into calming down, which he did. He was still worried though, I could see it from his posture, from the smells in the air. What he said next didn't help either. "There was something about the way Gerard looked at it. He wasn't afraid…at all. And I don't know what he knows or what he's planning. But I'm sure about one thing. We have to find it first."

That was the first time I thought about leaving Beacon Hills. Not without the Pack though and definitely not without Erica. But I thought about suggesting it to Derek. Pointing out that it was becoming more trouble than it was worth to stay in Beacon Hills. That we'd be better off leaving for a couple of months to train. Master our abilities so we could become proper Betas, and in turn increase his strength as an Alpha and the strength of the Pack as a whole.

I didn't say anything though. I knew he wouldn't listen. His mind was made up, and even his Second wouldn't be able to change his mind. Again though, I was left wondering if I really was his Second, his righthand. If I was worthy of that position, or if it was even worth my while training to reach that level. It was starting to feel like he only listened to me when it suited him, the rest of the time he did as he pleased. For better or worse though, he was our Alpha. So we'd follow him wherever he led us… For now.


	23. Guess who?

With our standing orders from Derek, me and Erica decided to play it smart. We'd pick one target – from a choice of Scott and Stiles – and go after that one together. I would like to say we discussed it, but there really wasn't much of a discussion before we ended up picking Stiles…or rather, Erica picked Stiles, and then begged me to go along with it. I never could say no to her easily.

But we knew he'd tense up the second both of us came at him – I mean what boy wouldn't. So we decided that Erica would approach him first with a plea for help, trying to win his trust while claiming she wanted to be more like Scott and leave Derek's Pack. Complete B.S. but the whole point was to find out what Scott and Stiles knew about the Kanima. While that was going on I'd hang back and listen, only coming in if we tried something a little more…painful.

However, the next day Stiles wasn't in. Scott and Allison were but not Stiles. So the plan was put on hold, which we were both fine with. The Kanima attack had shaken us and what with everything else still going on at the same time, we all needed a break to breath. And a full day of rest was much appreciated.

The next day though, Stiles was back, which meant we had to get back to our work for Derek. Not that Erica seemed too upset about it. We tailed him when we could for most of the morning, following him to his classes, the library, even the bathroom. The last one made me shudder from some of the smells coming from that room. It was during that point, of covering my noise to protect myself from those fowl smells, that I realised something. Erica wasn't going to approach Stiles like she was supposed to. I should have realised sooner what with her hammering heart, but there was me being naive and thinking Stiles wouldn't get to her.

It posed a problem, or at least it did until I was talking to Erica and Stiles came into view, at Lydia's heels as she walked through the hallway. At once I heard Erica growl, and she was about to step over to the couple when I pushed her gently back towards the lockers, trying to blend into the crowd as I listened.

"So do you know anything about Jackson's parents?" Stiles was asking.

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone," Lydia replied.

"Come on, anyone who ever says, 'I'm not supposed to tell anyone,' is always dying to tell someone, so tell me," Stiles begged.

"Why do you wanna know?" Lydia asked curiously without halting.

"I can't tell you that," Stiles replied, to which I rolled my eyes. _Dumb ass._

"Then I'm not telling you," Lydia countered.

"But you are telling me that you could tell me something if you wanted to tell me?" Stiles asked, to which me, Erica (who was apparently listening as well) and Lydia all frowned.

"Was that a question?" Lydia asked on behalf of all of us.

"It felt like a question," Stiles answered, as if his latest ramble had even confused him.

"Well, tell me if this feels like an answer." She paused for dramatic effects before then answering, "No," and walking off. With a groan Stiles continued after her, passing me and Erica without even noticing.

Once he had, I released Erica from where I'd pushed her against the locker, but while she was teething in rage, I was now grinning. "Well, that changes things," I pointed out, looking to my sister who frowned back at me.

"Why?" she practically growled, sending a spiteful glare after Lydia.

"Because Stiles was just asking about Jackson's parents," I pointed out, giving her a knowing look that she still didn't quite understand.

"Why? They're dead," Erica pointed out.

"Exactly," I said with a devious grin. "But Stiles doesn't know that, and that information is probably worth something to him. And besides, don't you want to know _why_ he's asking about Jackson's parents?" Having spelt it out for her, Erica started to grin, realising what I was saying. It was time to switch up our tactics. We had something Stiles wanted, so there was no need to go sniffing around him for information, or to play the Erica sympathy card. We could save that for later. For now, it was time for the direct approach, the option I far preferred.

We took off after Stiles, cutting him off while he was still pursuing Lydia, who was now adamantly trying to get away from him. "Lydia! Lydia, come on! Lydia, wai–!" Stile called until me and Erica pounced on him. Erica got to him first, giving him a good shove towards the wall before we both closed in on him. I grabbed his left shoulder, holding him in place while Erica threw out her clawed hand, placing it firmly against Stiles' chest.

We both grinned at our captured prey.

"OW! Ah, ah–hey, Erica," Stiles greeted, before then noticing me as well. It was progress I guessed, for Erica anyway. "Dylan," he added shortly after.

"Stiles," I greeted with a few bats of my eyelids. "Why are you asking about Jackson's real parents?" I asked in the sweet mockery that he was now used to.

"Why are you two brining out the claws on camera?" Stiles retorted, gesturing to the camera behind us. It hadn't spotted us yet, but it was turning back around so we quickly backed off as Erica hid her claws. "That's right," Stiles said with sudden confidence – or more accurately safety. "You wanna play Catwoman? I'll be your Batman," he said directly to Erica who was fighting the urge to smile. As for me I cocked an eyebrow at him, folding my arms as I patiently waited for him to acknowledge me. As it turned out, it took a few seconds longer than expected, as Erica held her crush's eyes.

Like Erica, I fought the urge to smile.

"If you're wondering about Jackson's real parents, I'll give you a clue on where to start looking," I offered, to which his eyes widened in anticipation. "They're about half a mile from here." His eyes grew wider. "In Beacon Hills cemetery." He deflated, but not as much as I'd thought he would. For him it was still an answer and while he was momentarily shocked, he'd have more questions in a sec.

I'd thrown out the bait, now it was time to see if he'd take it. I turned, and Erica turned with me, as we both walked up the stairs to the next hallway. We'd just reached the top when we heard Stiles racing to catch up with us. I looked to Erica, not turning enough for Stiles to see, and grinned. It really was just so, so easy sometimes.

"Do you know how they died?" was Stiles first question, a no brainer really, as he fell into step behind us.

"Maybe," I answered teasingly without looking back as I walked alongside Erica. "If you tell us why you're so interested, I might even tell you," I added, smirking at the information I was about to get. Stiles was a curious guy, he wouldn't be able to help himself from offering up his info in exchange for ours. Even if it was rubbish, he just had to know.

As it turned out though, we didn't need to wait for him to answer. Because Erica stopped, and I stopped with her. Turning to look at her along with Stiles. She was frowning, and I could tell she was thinking, putting all the pieces together until she looked at me. Then she looked at Stiles, then back to me.

"It's him," Erica answered, to which I frowned. But then I looked to Stiles who was in shock, panic written all over his face. So what Erica said had obviously meant something.

"What?" I asked, needing a little more.

"The test didn't work, but it's still him. He's the Kanima. It's Jackson," Erica explained to me, as Stiles continued to get paler and paler from my side. And he had every right to, because now we knew who the Kanima truly was. We knew who we had to kill in order to rid ourselves of this monster, the monster that had attacked me and Erica in the street not two nights ago. We knew when it would be weak, and that thought made me smile.

"Thanks, Stiles," I said in mock sympathy before chuckling as I strode off with Erica at my heels. Again though, it wasn't long before Stiles came running after us, by which point I had my phone out, Derek's number almost at the ready.

"You can't tell Derek, okay?" Stiles quickly begged as we approached the boy's locker room. "There's a lot more to this that you two don't know about. And just because you two got the Alpha bite makeover doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people," Stiles argued before Erica swung around to meet him. And since she'd stopped, so had I, momentarily taking my eyes of my phone to watch her. To make sure she was okay.

Stiles had no idea how thin the ice he was standing on truly was.

"Why not?" Erica snapped at him. "That's all anybody ever used to do to me. To my sister," Erica growled, throwing an arm back towards me. I should have gone back to calling Derek then, but when Erica continued, the sister in me couldn't leave her side just in case she needed me. Because that was when she admitted to her crush, that she had a crush.

"I used to have the worst crush in the world on you." Again, shock passed over Stiles. "Yeah, you, Stiles. And you never once even noticed me."

I could have killed Stiles right then, and I was pretty sure my eyes were glowing. Here was my beloved sister, finally pouring out her heart, telling her crush how she felt…and he was looking at the floor next to me. More focused on that than what Erica was saying.

"Exactly how you're not noticing me right now," Erica pointed out, a sadness to her voice that I could never prevent.

But then Erica followed Stiles gaze, curious as to what was more interesting than her heart, only to frown when she saw it. I was confused too, even when I saw it. Again I should have gone back to making my phone call to Derek about the Kanima. But there was a large puddle of water coming from the boy's locker room, and if the puddle had reached the door then there had to have been a pretty huge leak some where.

And then the door flew open and Scott came flying out, crashing to floor, followed by Jackson who leapt on top of him, looking to strangle the Werewolf. He didn't get the chance though, as me, Erica and Stiles quickly intervened. I shoved Jackson off of Scott, then stepped over him with Erica, each of us grabbing one of Jackson's arms before securing him against the wall.

Scott was back on his feet now, still trying to get at Jackson for whatever reason, but Stiles was holding him back, calling out his name. My attention though was quickly taken back to Jackson as he fought us, no longer as weak as he once had been. Before, when we'd brought him to Derek, it had only taken one of us at half strength to hold him. Now it was taking both me and Erica, at full strength to hold Jack at bay. This was the Kanima, its strength seeping into Jackson, or at least that's what I thought.

I wanted to kill him now, here and quickly, before he could shift or kill anyone else. But the hallway was already filling up, and I wasn't going to be able to kill him without being notice. I would do it though, if he began to shift. Then if he tried to kill us, I'd take him down with me. For now though, I had to settle for holding him in place along with Erica, as Mr. Harris came charging down the hallway towards us.

"What the hell's going on? Hey! Enough!" Mr. Harris was between the fighters now, glaring at Scott who had calmed down enough to stop himself from lunging at Jackson. Jackson had calmed down a little too, but was still tense, ready to fight, and breathing heavily. For safety, me and Erica kept our arms around his, ready to restrain him if need be. Though apparently Mr. Harris saw how tense he was too, as he told Jackson to, "Calm down!" It didn't really help calm anyone down but it did give me a chance to survey the area.

Allison had emerged from the boy's locker room, probably having witnessed most of the fight. Possibly even being the cause of it. I certainly wouldn't have put it past her. She was stood next to Scott now, Stile standing on the same side of Harris as me, Jackson and Erica, while some other guy stood just behind Harris with a tablet in his hands. Playing away with it as Harris glared at us. I had no idea who that guy was, but I'd seen him around the lacrosse team. I didn't think he'd ever spoke to me pre-Werewolf bite, and I'd certainly never talked to him since. He wasn't my type. Too…everyday. Normal.

"Mr. McCall, you want explain yourself?" Mr. Harris said accusingly, to which I smirked a little. It then only grew when he started having a go at Stiles, never coming close to blaming Jackson, Allison, or even me and Erica. He was dick to everyone, but there were still those that Harris really had it in for. I almost felt sorry for the poor bastards, almost.

"You dropped this," the guy behind Harris spoke up, holding out the tablet towards Allison and Scott. I frowned, confused by this. _If it wasn't his tablet, then what the hell had he been doing with it before?_ In any case Harris quickly snatched it from him.

"You, and you," Mr. Harris quickly declared, pointing to Jackson and Scott with the tablet, before hesitating. "Actually. All of you," he then decided, pointing to each and everyone of us with the tablet. Even the guy who had literally nothing to do with it, or even anything supernatural. "Detention. Three o'clock," he declared, to which we all groaned internally. No one said anything aloud though, or risk pissing off Harris even more so than he already was. Besides, in all honesty, we should be lucky he didn't give us detention for a week. He must have been in a good mood after all.


	24. Detention

Mr. Harris was waiting for us all as we marched into the library, with me and Erica at the back of the line we'd all subconsciously formed. The bitter man pointed to two tables in the middle of the library, indicating where we were all to sit. Nobody said anything as we each grabbed a chair. Allison, Matt (the guy I didn't know from before who'd been playing with the tablet) and Jackson took the far table while Scott and Stiles had taken the closer. Since I hated pretty much everyone in the room bar Erica, I followed her, as she sat down at the table along with Scott and Stiles.

"We can't be in detention together. I have a restraining order against these tools," Jackson announced to the room as he sat down. As if his personal life dictated everything else around him. The urge to rip out his throat was coming back again, and not just because he was the Kanima. I hadn't giving Jackson enough credit previously, he really was a self-centred asshole.

"All of these tools?" Mr. Harris asked with a gestured to those of us in the room.

"No, just us tools," Stiles clarified, making me grin at the referral of himself and Scott as, 'tools'.

"Fine. You two, over there," Mr. Harris said lazily as he pointed to the table next to mine and Erica's. I shot the boys a smug smile as they left, but it remained on my face a second longer when I noticed how annoyed Jackson was by the fact that all Harris had done was move Scott and Stiles another table away.

When Harris then moved to take his seat at the librarian's desk, I pulled my phone out without him seeing. I opened up the text conversation I had with Derek and started to compose a text until Erica reached over and grabbed my wrist. I looked up sharply, frowning at her as if to ask, "Why?"

"Don't tell Derek yet," she said quietly.

"What?" I hissed, looking around before leaning over towards her, looking her in the eye as I spoke. "Are you insane? Why wouldn't I tell Derek that Jackson is the Kanima?" When she didn't answer after a good few seconds, the answer sprung to my mind. I glared at her in shock before whispering, "You don't want me to tell him because of Stiles."

"No," Erica blurted out a little loudly. We both paused, looking around to make sure we hadn't drawn too much attention, especially that of the Werewolf at the next table. We hadn't though, and Scott seemed to be in a heated discussion with Stiles right now anyway. Similar to the one I was having with my sister. "I just think we should hold off is all."

I glared at her, not convinced. "Really?" I asked in complete deadpan.

"Yes," Erica insisted. "Look, if we tell Derek now, we lose any trust we might gain from Stiles…and Scott. But if we hold off, we might be able to convince them to trust us and then we can find out what else they might know."

"What else is there to know?!" I exclaimed.

"Would you like to make this detention a regular thing, Ms. Reyes?" came the irritated voice of Mr. Harris. I looked back, finding him stood behind me and Erica.

"No, Sir," I answered.

"Then kindly keep your voices below a whisper," he declared, before eyeing my phone. "And put that away. If I see you with it again before the end of detention, you can collect it tomorrow – at your next detention."

"Sorry," I mumbled, grudgingly putting my phone away. Once I had, Harris stalked back over to the Liberian desk and sat himself down.

Alone again, I turned back to Erica. "All right," I whispered. "Since I now can't take my phone out to tell Derek, I'll give you until the end of detention to get what you want out of Scott and Stiles." I knew what she really wanted to get out of Stiles, but held my tongue for her sake. Even when I was mad at her I was still protecting her.

Erica smiled back, happy I was letting her get her way, that was until she realised she couldn't easily talk to Stiles now, not with warden Harris keeping watch. So for the time being, she joined me in getting some homework done, on which we'd fallen behind a little.

There was a couple minutes of silence while we worked, until Jackson then started acting weird and left the room, claiming he needed water. Harris went after him, and I felt no need to stop him. If Jackson killed him, I doubted I'd care. If he shifted into the Kanima though, I wasn't giving Erica until the end of detention. I would be calling Derek right away.

However, all my thoughts on Jackson quickly vanished when the chairs in front of me and Erica were pulled away and Scott and Stiles sat down opposite us. As usual, they didn't waste any time in getting to the point. "Stiles says you two know how Jackson's parents died," said Scott.

Me and Erica looked up from our homework, sharing a look before shrugging at the boys opposite us. "Maybe," we both said in unison, smirking once we did.

When we proceeded to go back to work, Scott growled out, "Talk." I lifted my head back up, he was sat up opposite me so I got to look him square in the eye as I grinned at him. _Oh, yeah, I was going to have some fun with this._ Or at least I would have, had Erica not immediately spilled the beans.

"It was a car accident. Our dad was the insurance investigator, and every time he sees Jackson drive by in his Porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's eighteen," Erica explained as she put away her work, and since she was doing it I did so as well. Although I honestly had forgotten about Jackson's settlement. Another reason to hate him, though I hardly needed another.

"So not only is Jackson rich now, but he's getting even richer at eighteen?"

"Yep," Erica answered.

"There's something so deeply wrong with that," Stiles sighed out, to which Scott nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, he'll be dead before he get's to eighteen," I pointed out smugly. I waited for Scott's argument, but to my surprise he hesitated for a moment, jaw clenching before he spoke. I watched him carefully as he did.

"Have you told Derek yet?" Scott asked, once his jaw loosened. I thought it was interesting that he bypassed my idea of murdering Jackson. Maybe good old McCall was having second thoughts. That was differently interesting. Even so, I played it safe with my answer, not wanting to confirm his opinions on me and Erica. We were trying to win his trust after all.

"No," I answered.

"Are you going too?" Scott asked.

"Do you think I shouldn't?" I asked. Again Scott hesitated in answer, and my brow rose slightly as I smiled. He was changing his tune.

Unfortunately our little verbal sparing session was brought to an abrupt close when the speakers overhead said, "Scott McCall, please report to the principal's office." I continued to smirk, watching Scott as he got up and left without another word. Once he had however, I was reminded that Stiles was still with us, sat opposite Erica.

"Do you think your dad would still have the accident report?" Stiles asked.

"Probably, he keeps everything," Erica said plainly before she opened up her laptop. "Actually, it's probably still in his inbox," Erica explained as she started typing away, logging into our dad's email. I would have spoken up, told her to stop, but then I realised she was playing Stile, winning his trust while giving him relatively pointless information. Or at least I hoped she was playing him and not the other way around.

Besides, what would Jackson's parents' death have to do with him being the Kanima, or anything else going on right now for that matter. They'd been dead for over fifteen years. So I kept my mouth shut, and leaned over to watch Erica work, while Stiles moved his chair around to our side of the desk, now sitting alongside Erica. She was so focused on what she was doing, I doubt she even noticed just how close he was sat next to her. I wasn't entirely sure whether that was a bad or good thing, but let it continue for now.

Not long after Erica pulled up our dad's report, and began searching through it with me and Stiles, as Jackson returned. I glanced up for a moment, watching him to see if there were any signs he might have shifted. He was sweating a lot, or maybe it was just the water he'd thrown on his face. A sniff confirmed it was a mixture of both. Something was going on with him, and there was only so much I would let go before I called Derek.

"Whoa, look at the dates," Stiles said, bringing me back over to the computer screen he was pointing at.

Erica read from the screen, "Passengers arrived at the hospital D.O.A. The estimated time of death was nine-twenty-six PM, on June fourteenth."

"Jackson's birthday is June fifteenth," Stiles instantly pointed out as he and Erica shared a look. A look I recon I understood far more than they did.

The sound of packing up from behind caught my attention, and I looked back over my shoulder to see Harris packing up. _Times up, Erica. Sorry_, I thought as I, and everyone else, stood up to leave. Only to then hear the dreadful sound of Harris' laughter.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. Uh, yes, I'm leaving. But none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving." There was a collective groan as we threw our stuff back down. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

"He better hope he's locked up safe and sound on the next full moon," I muttered to Erica as I grabbed the first book of the trolley. She smirked at me before grabbing a book of her own, as we and everyone else set to work. It was only as we worked that I realised how long it had been since I last held a book in my hands, since I'd last read a story. I'd used to read them all the time, escaping into different worlds every night. But since becoming a Werewolf, I was too invested in my own story to read others. The thought of that made me smile, the idea that my story was both interesting and good enough for someone – anyone – to pick it up and read. _My_ story was more interesting now than those on my bedside table.

Of course my story was now full of sharp teeth, claws, scaly monsters, venom that could paralyse you for hours, people with spontaneous hair growth, full moons that turned me into a savage beast, Hunters that wanted me and my kind dead and just about a thousand other problems… I was starting to think maybe I preferred it when all this stuff was fiction.

During the work Scott returned, and once he had, he, Allison and Stiles secluded themselves in part of the library to talk in privet while the rest of us worked. I might have been bitter if I couldn't easily hear every word they were saying. Most of it was just Stiles going over what he'd found with me and Erica. But then there were other things. Stuff about the Kanima myth, about someone controlling Jackson, or rather the Kanima, and about its purpose. Stuff that I'd never heard about until they started talking about it. It was interesting, so I kept listening, along with Erica who seemed equally as invested in their little conversation as I was. This was like nothing we'd heard from Derek. In fact, I'd be willing to bet he didn't even know half of what these guys were talking about. Which raised the question, how did they know all this? And maybe more importantly, why didn't Derek know it?

Before I got the chance to go and ask such a question, Scott went by, apparently looking to talk to Jackson. Knowing that would be a short conversation, I let him pass without a word, deciding I'd catch him on the way back. I returned to storing books with Erica until suddenly there was a loud crash from the next aisle. I looked up, sensing danger, as the lights began to flicker, the one in the next aisle already hanging loosely.

"Dylan! Erica!" Scott shouted out, and from the way I felt, I knew he was warning us about the danger. There was only one thing it could be. I felt my eyes brighten, as my canines formed. Erica howled in fright and I turned to find her having done the same partial shift as me. She was scared. I did my best to reassure her while also threatening what was attacking us with a growl. Then it passed over head, in a blur, but I'd seen enough to know what it was. I smelt it's scent and there was no denying. It was Jackson. He'd become the Kanima.

I cursed myself for not calling Derek, for not killing Jackson when he'd been venerable. If Derek hadn't been able to beat this thing, then three Betas and a couple of humans were as good as dead. Hell the whole room was practically shaking, or maybe it just felt that way as Jackson jumped from bookcase to bookcase. Each shifting beneath his weight, while he slashed at the overhead lights, causing them to fall, blinking on and off, as sparks rained down on us.

I turned away, shielding myself from the sparks, and that was when Jackson got between me and Erica. Her back was to me, thinking I would protect her. I had no idea he'd even been there until I heard her cry out. My arms moved, myself be damned from the singeing sparks that continued to fall. My entire being moved to see Erica, as she fell towards the ground before my eyes, paralysed again.

Our eyes met and I saw how utterly terrified she was, how defenceless she was. Her eyes, once bright amber and ferocious had turned back to the timid brown, the shift reverting as she collapsed on to the floor. And seeing her like that mad me angry. Angry at myself for sure, but I was a whole lot angrier at what had done this to her. I was done letting this thing walk all over us. I let out another growl, a vengeful one, and felt myself full shift.

Inhaling its scent, I turned to watch Scott sail past the end of the aisle and into one of the trolleys. I dashed out, looking to where he'd come from and finding Jackson. He was in some kind of particle shift, his eyes bright yellow with thin snake like slits. Patches of green scales all over, including most of his face as he hissed at me.

I roared back, ignoring Scott's protests as I lunged. He was going to die here. I didn't care if Derek had failed. This monster had gone after my sister, and for that I wouldn't let him live!

Unfortunately, I was caught in the midair, as Jackson rushed forward to meet me, clawed hand grabbing my throat before throwing me back towards Scott. He'd barely gotten back up onto his feet before I slammed into him.

We both went down, but I was far from out. I was already on all four, ready for another charge when Scott's arms went around my waist, holding me back. I growled, snapping my canines towards his hands. Empty threats, warning him to back off. My target was Jackson. Him, and him alone.

"You can't beat him," Scott argued, but I was beyond logical thinking at this point, having giving into the supernatural and cardinal urges inside of me. The wolf, seeing its enemy, the one who threatened the Pack, and needing to kill it. That was all Jackson was, a threat that needed to be killed, someone who'd wronged my sister too such a degree that only death would satisfy my need for vengeance. Still, Scot persisted, holding me by my waist as I tried to push him off and ran at Jackson – who stood still, waiting.

"Dylan, stop! He'll kill you! If not then he'll just paralyse you like he did to Erica!" At her name I gained some control, and slowed in my struggle. Scott obviously picked up on this considering what he said next. "She's hurt. Erica's hurt. I can't protect her and my friends alone, I need your help. Please just help me protect them and Erica." It wasn't logic that prevailed, it was the sister inside of me over the wolf. The need to protect Erica. I'd always protected her, before I could avenge her that is. But once again I was powerless, and would have to settle for protecting, rather than killing what had hurt her.

So I let Scott guide me over to the aisle where Erica was, where Stiles and Allison had moved to. I felt my shift fade away for now, as Scott crouched down and moved himself in front of Allison and Stiles, ready to defend them with his life. I followed his lead, crouching down next to him, but was ready to lunge if the Kanima even stepped an inch towards us – towards Erica.

I glanced back when I thought of her, seeing that Stiles had pulled her towards them, doing what he could to shield her with his body. _Maybe he wasn't all bad._ It was a quiet thought, a thought that was drowned out by everything else. But it was there. And some part of me would probably remember that. For now, my attention was back on Jackson, along with Scott, waiting to see what he'd do next.

For a moment he stood watching us, head tilting as he quietly hissed in our direction. Then he moved towards the chalkboard, as if he were a puppet – being used by an inexperienced puppeteer. His movement were unnatural, limbs sticking out awkwardly as he walked. It was certainly creepy.

Taking a piece of chalk, he then started to write on the board, without even looking at it. When he finished, his arm dropped down to his side, slapping his thigh as the chalk he'd been holding fell to the floor. His head followed it down, dropping as he stood there. But even with him in the way, we could all see the message, the warning.

_Stay out of my way or I'll kill all of you._

Then suddenly he was on the move, darting towards the wall before leaping up and smashing through one of the windows. He was gone, just like that. And it was apparently over for now, as we all stood up, stepping out of the safety of aisle. I looked to Scott who looked back at me, both of us sighing with relief. But while he looked towards the message on the board, I looked back to Erica.

I gasped, seeing something I never thought I'd see again. Erica, having a seizure.

Stiles voiced that very fact, while cradling her in his arms, unsure of what else to do. I must have been on auto pilot, because the next thing I knew I was alongside Stiles, holding Erica in my arms with him as she convulsed uncontrollably. "This wasn't supposed to happen," I cried out, unsure of what else to do, feeling as powerless as I had during her last seizure, in the gymnasium before she'd turned. "The bite was supposed to stop this!"

"Maybe it's the venom," Stiles suggested frantically. "Maybe the venom and the flickering lights was enough to trigger it."

"He's alive," Allison called from the next aisle, apparently checking on the other guy who I cared next to nothing for at this point. Honestly, I'd harvest his organs right now with my bare claws if I knew it would save Erica.

"Hey, we need to get her to a hospital. Dylan? Dylan, are you listening to me!" Stiles cried out frantically, snapping me from my dazed and panicked thoughts. All I could do was nod, agreeing that that's what we should do. The hospital was the right place to take her, like we'd always done when she'd had a seizure. Or at least I thought that until my sister pointed out where we really had to go.

"Derek," she threw out through a clenched jaw. "Only to Derek." She was right, we had to go to Derek. The hospital was too risky with Hunters on the look out, and too many questions could come up because of her Werewolf biology. We had to go to Derek, and just hope he knew how to fix it.

"When we get her to the hospital–" Scott began to say through the bookshelf to Allison, at least until I grabbed his shoulder and turned him back towards the main issue, my sister's health.

"We're not going to a hospital. We need to go to Derek," I declared.

"No–No we need to take her–" Scott tried to argue before I cut in again.

"If we take to her a hospital that brings up a lot of questions we can't answer. Plus, it'll lead the Hunters right to her, and they're on a new shoot first ask questions later morality system, so we're taking her to Derek," I repeated, no room for questioning in my voice. Scott stared at me, mouth agape as he thought. His head moved back to Allison, then back to me before he ran around to join Allison.

That's why I couldn't and wouldn't trust Scott. When I needed him, he ran to someone else, someone higher on his priority list. Well there was only one person on my priority list, and she was having a seizure. I didn't care what Scott did, as he talked with Allison on the other side of the bookcase. I hand one job, one goal. Save Erica. So I scooped her up in both my arms – careful to give her enough room as her body thrashed around – and made my way towards the doors that were shut.

"Stiles, get the doors!" I shouted, and he dashed past me, holding them open as I passed through. I'd fully expected him to run back in and join Scott and Allison, but to my surprise he followed us and helped me get Erica to the car. That thought popped into my head again, the one about him not being so bad. The one that made me think,_ maybe I wouldn't mind if Erica gave him a chance to redeem himself as her crush._

Scott did eventually join us, running out to meet us after Stiles had already helped me load Erica into my car. I ignored Scott when he asked what to do and climbed into the driver's seat. Stiles was in the back, holding Erica as I started up the car. Had Scott not had the foresight to climb in then and there, I would have left him in the parking lot. But he got into the passenger seat right as I pulled out and floored it towards Derek's.


	25. Derek's Sisters

"Derek!" I cried out as I came barging into the lair, holding Erica in my arms. I saw him appear from the subway carriage before I'd even taken the first step down towards him. He took in the situation instantly, probably using his senses to do so, before he ran up the stairs to meet me at the halfway point.

"Give her to me," Derek ordered. I hesitated, my hold on Erica tightening. I trusted him, I knew I did…but this was my sister. Time was of the essence, I knew that, but rather than snap at me, Derek looked me in the eye, a promise forming. "I'll look after her," he said, and I believed him. Maybe it had something to do with the Alpha, Beta bond but I carefully handed over Erica before he lead us down the stairs as fast as he could go.

Scott and Stiles were right behind us, but Derek paid little mind to them, as did I. Erica was everyone's focus right now. "Derek, what's happening to her, you said she wouldn't have seizures anymore – how is this happening?" I asked frantically as we walked.

"I don't know, Dylan," was all he said before he went silent. I would have pestered him for an answer, but I doubted that would help him or more importantly Erica, so I kept my questions to myself for now.

He lead us into the subway carriage and knelt down, lowering Erica to the floor as we piled in behind him. "Hold her up," Derek instructed, looking to me. I moved but Stiles did too, taking her left side while I took her right.

"Is she dying?" Stiles asked, while Derek leaned back to inspect the situation, now seeing her in a better light. He must have been using his senses again. Either that or he was in as much shock and surprise as we all were. He'd promised this wouldn't happen, he'd said the bite would prevent this from ever happening again. He'd lied to me, and despite the trust I'd give him a few seconds prior, I found myself now hating my Alpha.

"She might," Derek answered in a daze.

"Derek, no!" I cried out in pure and utter fright. The thought of loosing my sister right now was too much to bare. "Please, you have to save her, please! She's all I've got, you can't let her die!"

Derek looked to me, his eyes in intense thought before he finally said, "All right." He adjusted his position, now leaning over Erica and taking her arm in his hands. "But this is gonna hurt." I didn't get the chance to ask what he was talking about, because the sound of bone breaking snapped me from my train of though, as Erica screamed in agony.

"You broke her arm!" Stiles shouted.

"Derek, what are you doing!" I cried out in horror, not seeing how causing Erica more pain would help in anyway.

"It'll trigger the healing process," Derek explained. "But I've still got to get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt." I tightened my hold on Erica in preparation, doing all I could to comfort her while Stiles did the same from the other side. Then Derek tightened his grip on Erica's – now broken – arm. His claws formed, breaking her skin as he dug in. Blood seeping out of her arm as if it were blood bag, as she screamed even louder than before.

"It's okay, Erica! It's okay, I'm here. I've got you. You're going to be fine," I said over her screams, doing all I could to comfort and reassure her in this time of utter chaos. It hurt that this was all I could do, that I couldn't take her pain, couldn't go through this for her instead. I want to tell Derek to stop, but doing so wouldn't help Erica. She had to suffer, and it was killing both of us to see her go through this again.

The promise that we'd never suffer again, was well and truly broken at this point.

Finally Derek seemed to stop, Erica's screams subsiding for the time being. During this, Stiles lost his balance and slid onto his backside, which then made Erica fall towards him since he wasn't supporting her. I could have ripped his head off for that, had I not seen Erica curl up against him in between the spasms. "Stiles…" Erica breathed out, opening her eyes to look up at him. He looked down, and for the first time, I knew she was getting his undivided attention. "You make a good Batman."

Her head dropped back after that, drifting into unconsciousness from the pain. But I hadn't known that for sure, so I started shouting her name and Stiles did the same. It was only when Derek's voice cut through us both, that we stopped shouting. "Is she still breathing?" Derek asked over us.

I leaned towards her, focusing my hearing on the inhale and exhale, the beat of her heart. "Yes, she's still alive," I said in relief.

"Better she's unconscious then," Derek said as he started squeezing again, causing more blood to seep out. "I've still to get the rest of the venom out her system."

We all sat around while he finished doing that. Erica remained on Stiles lap because none of us dared to move her. I remained beside him, softly stroking Erica's hair and whispering reassuring words to her and myself. Scott was sat on one of the subway seats, watching the whole thing with his hands clasped together in front of his mouth. It was almost like he was praying.

Eventually, Derek was done. I asked him about the blood loss, but Derek pointed out her wounds had already healed over and that she should be awake in a few hours. We double checked she was still breathing and that was when I finally relaxed, even if it was just a little. I'd feel whole lot better once she woke up.

I would have remained by her side until then, but Derek wanted to talk. But when he asked me the first time, I didn't even look at him, my gaze remaining solely on Erica. "Dylan, she's going to live, I promise," Derek said, hunched over opposite me. "But you, me and Scott need to have a talk, right now." I decided it could wait, remaining with Erica. Let him talk to his precious Scott, while I look after the member of _our_ Pack. Even when he sighed, I still didn't move, nor even when he stood up. In the end, it was actually Stiles, of all people, who got me to move.

"I'll stay with her," he said, looking me in the eye as he did. "I'll look after her until you get back." That was a promise, and I knew he'd keep to it. So I nodded, silently getting up as Derek lead the way out. I took one last look at Erica, to reassure myself that she was safe, still resting against Stiles who hadn't moved since she landed on him. Confident in him, I stepped out with Scott following me.

Once outside the subway carriage, we moved over to a nearby crate, which Derek leaned back against, turning to face me and Scott who were stood side by side. Before anyone else could say anything, I said, "Jackson's the Kanima." He took this in with relative ease, nodding slowly as a line passed over his forehead. I assumed he had more questions but was keeping them to himself because of Erica's situation. Or maybe he'd still been suspecting Jackson all along, and just hadn't bothered to tell any of us. I really couldn't tell with Derek anymore. Sometimes it felt like I knew him, that he trusted me, and other times, he was still just as mysterious as when I'd first met him. Not trusting anyone except himself and maybe Scott on occasion. He trusted an Omega, more than he did his own Pack. A fact that was starting to speak volumes to me.

Scott was the next one to speak, but it was a good few seconds before he did. "Are you going to kill him?"

"Tried that once," Derek said simply. "Didn't work. But everything is killable. I just need to find its weak spot."

Another silence, before Scott spoke again. "I'm gonna help you stop him… As part of your Pack." Both me and Derek turned to look at him, though he met neither of our surprised gazes. "If you want me in, fine. But we do it on one condition. We're going to catch him, not kill him."

Derek shared a look with me, before his eyes flicked back to Scott. "And?" he asked, knowing there would be something else.

"And we do it my way," Scott said, looking Derek straight in the eye.

Yet another silence, the two facing off with me at their sides. "All right," Derek said.

Shortly after agreeing to Scott's terms on joining the Pack – even if it was temporary – Derek asked him and Stiles to leave. This time Stiles was hesitant to leave Erica's side, until I took her from him. He understood, and I offered him a comforting smile before he then followed Scott out.

After that, Derek and I remained in the subway carriage, waiting for Erica to awake. Derek had pulled in a mattress that Erica was now resting on, while I sat on one of the subway seats beside her, eyes never leaving her. Always listening to her heart beat in case anything suddenly went wrong. Derek was stood at the head end of Erica, leaning against one of the poles that reached from the roof down to the floor. We didn't speak to each other while we waited, both more focused on other things.

"The first chance I get I'm going to kill Jackson," I said suddenly. I wasn't entirely sure whether I was saying it to Erica or Derek, but they both needed to hear it. It was a promise to Erica, but just a general heads up for Derek. I owed him that much, but after everything that had gone wrong, I was starting to think I didn't actually owe him that much more anymore.

I knew he was looking at me, but I didn't turn away from Erica, not even when he spoke up. "I understand. But I'm going to ask you not to, because it will jeopardise our deal with Scott." I snorted at that, rolling my eyes which I knew he could see. He didn't add anything. No warning, no growl. Which was probably why I said what I said next.

"You're not as good an Alpha as you think you are. If you really cared about this Pack, then you'd kill Jackson." I knew my words would sting, I'd intended them to. I heard him take in a deep breath, then waited for him to start shouting at me. But he didn't.

"I tried that, remember," Derek pointed out, although there was a little edge to his voice. "I sliced his throat with my own two hands and he walked away from it. Yes I'd like to kill him but it's clearly not as easy as that. So I'll settle for stopping it, which is what Scott wants to do." My God, I just realised how whipped Derek was by Scott. It might have been funny if it wasn't screwing everything up for our Pack. "I know you want him dead, but we have to focus on stopping him, even if that means letting him live."

"And how am I supposed to focus when my sister is like this?" I snapped, finally looking at him. "When she's scared, and terrified and having a frick'n seizure – that you said would never happen again!"

"It shouldn't have happened again, and I'm sorry that it did," Derek snapped back as he pushed off the pole, though his voice wasn't as loud as mine. "But that's exactly why I have to stop this thing, even if it means letting it live. Because I don't want her to be scared, I don't want any of you to be scared." His voice lowered to a more soft tone, or at least what was soft for Derek. "I understand, Dylan."

A snorted again. "No you don't," I muttered, turning back to Erica as I slouched into my seat. "You don't have any siblings."

There was a pause, a moment while Derek gathered himself, letting out the hot air that was inside of him. Then he moved, sitting down next to me, careful not to step on or wake Erica prematurely. Once sat, he gathered himself, adjusting his position and breathing until he felt he was ready, ready to tell me whatever it was he was about to. I'd ignore it all, watching Erica and pretending he wasn't there.

"You're right," Derek admitted. "I don't have any siblings…not any more." That caught my attention, my eyes widening a little as I turned to face him. His lips turned up ever so slight, in an almost sad yet victorious smile, seeing that he'd caught me.

"Before I became an Alpha, I was a Beta, like you. My Alpha, was my older sister, Laura. She was better at it than I am…" And then Derek proceeded to tell me all about what had happened between him and Laura when coming back, right up to the point he became Alpha and started to build his own Pack. He told me about how Laura's death had changed him, how he'd temporarily become an Omega. It sounded horrible, and I preyed it never happened to me. Preyed that I'd never lose Erica the way he lost Laura, or be left alone as an Omega, isolated with no one to talk to. It sounded like hell. And he'd gone through it.

"I'm sorry," I said once he finished. "I had no idea." But why would I, he never talked about himself, or anything that happened before we joined his Pack. He never opened up. And that was when I realised that us four as Betas had a better connection with each other, than any of us had with Derek. Though he was the leader of our Pack, he was also the most distant from it.

"She wasn't my only sister though," Derek suddenly continued. "I had a younger one. Cora. She was a year younger than you." _The same age as Erica_, I thought. He then told me about what happened to her, how she'd died in the house fire started by Kate Argent, who's death was the reason the Hunters had recently become so aggressive. If you asked me, she got what she deserved. Burning a house with innocent people inside of it, Werewolves or not, was horrid and satanic. The woman must have been an absolute psychopath. I was glad I was never going to meet her.

After telling me about how she died though, Derek moved onto what Cora had been like. She sounded a lot like him, though more happy than he was now. Although, he'd probably been happy back then too, before everything that came next. I was starting to understand why he struggled to trust people, or anyone, even his own Pack for that matter.

The whole time while he was talking about her though, he was looking to the empty seat opposite us, on the other side of Erica. As if he could see her right there, smiling along with him as he talked about her. I feel like I would have liked her, and for a moment I morned the girl I was never going to get a chance to meet.

"So you see, I do understand, Dylan," Derek said, looking away from the memory of his sisters and back at me. "And that's why I promise, I'll do my best to protect everyone in this Pack, and that includes Erica. It includes you. But I need you to trust me. I need you to be my Second and back me up, support me."

"I will," I found myself saying without another thought, smiling at him. He'd opened up to me, he'd trusted me, and I wanted to repay that trust, wanted to show him it was okay to open up to us, his Pack. He smiled a little back, before we both went back to watching Erica, our Pack sister.


	26. Partnership

As we climbed out of Derek's car, Scott unlocked the door ahead for us. He was on the other side, allowing us in, but before he did, he had a question for our Alpha. "What are they doing here?" he demanded as Derek walked into the animal clinic, me and Isaac behind him. My arms were folded over my chest while Isaac had his shoved in his pockets. Neither of us were on board with this partnership, especially the part that involved letting Jackson live. But it was what our Alpha had decided, and as per my promise I was trying to support him. Even if it was a dumb idea.

"I need them," Derek answered.

"I don't trust them," Scott said, although I doubted it. And even if he didn't trust us, he'd work with us, and help us, if it was for the _greater good_. The guy was such a cliché good guy that it was beginning to make my teeth itch, just being around him and his goodie two–shoes friends.

"Yeah, well, _they_ don't trust you either," Isaac shot back as we walked past him.

"And Derek really doesn't care," snapped our Alpha as well all walked through the open gate that lead behind the counter. Me and Isaac fell silent, though remained in our unhappy stances as Derek turned to Scott. "Now where's the vet? Is he gonna help us or not?"

"That depends," came a voice full of wisdom. I turned along with Isaac who was stood next to me, both of us finding a mysterious man stood in the door way that lead into the back room of the clinic. He had his arms folded like me, but that was probably the only thing we had in common. He was dark skinned, bald, a little facial hair around the mouth and chin, and had the sense of teacher about him. A teacher I might even had liked if he didn't seem so skeptical of me and my Pack.

The vet continued, "Your friend, Jackson. Are we planning to kill him or save him?"

"Kill him," Derek, me and Isaac answered.

At the same time, Scott answered with the contradictory, "Save him." At our opposite answers, Scott turned to us all and repeated, "Save him."

So naturally I repeated, "Kill him," smirking when Scott turned to glare at me. It really was that easy to push his buttons.

"Save him," Scott said again, more firmly. I went to repeat myself again, voicing my opinion, when Derek shot me a look. My mouth closed, and once more I began to pout, turning away from Scott and Derek. I should have known that promise I made him wouldn't have lasted, then again it's not like he was agreeing with Scott either.

"Save him," Scott repeated one more time, finalising it for his boss. Satisfied, the vet – who then introduced himself as Dr. Deaton, to those of us that didn't know him by name – lead us into the back room. He told us to gather around the examining table in the centre of the room. While he collected a tray filled with glass bottles, and strange markings on each of their twist on tops.

With us all on one side of the table, Deaton set down the tray, taking a single bottle from it. As he did, Isaac reached out to take one for himself, when Derek's hand shot out and grabbed his. "Watch what you touch," he said in a simple warning. At first I didn't understand, but upon closer inspection I saw a variety of things inside the bottles. There was powders, little stones, seeds and all sorts. And looking at the symbols on the lids reminded me of the chest Derek had with a similar marking on it, back at the lair. Clearly, this was all supernatural related, and having being told about wolfsbane, it didn't surprise me that there were other things in this world that could effect us, now that we were supernatural.

Which was probably why Isaac then asked, "So, what are you? Some kind of witch?"

Deaton looked at him skeptically, before answering with, "No, I'm a veterinarian." I grinned. If he wasn't so judgmental, I'd probably like this guy.

Letting the bottle he was holding slid back onto the tray before him, Deaton sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defence against a paralytic toxin."

"We're open to suggestions," Derek replied.

"What about an effective offence?" Isaac cut in.

"We already tried that," Derek answered before anyone else had to. "I nearly took its head off. And Argent emptied an entire clip into it. The thing just gets back up," Derek then went on to explain for Deaton's sake, as the veterinarian began to frown.

"Has it shown any weaknesses?"

"Well, one – it can't swim," Derek answered.

"And while Jackson is Jackson he seems to be effected by his own venom," I added from next to Derek.

Deaton wasn't as interested in that though, focusing more on the swimming angle. "So it can't swim, does that go for Jackson as well?"

"No. He's the captain of the swim team," Scott clarified.

"Essentially, you're trying to catch two people," Deaton said before turning to grab something from one of his drawers. When he did, he turned back to us and held out a strange silver coin. It looked like something from Asia, maybe to do with buddhism. In the centre was a cut out of a man meditating surrounded by crisscross kind of partner that made up the edge of the coin. "A puppet," Deaton continued with his explanation, rolling the coin between his thumb and finger, making the figure inside the coin roll back and forth.

"And a puppeteer," I mumbled out as I watched.

"Precisely," Deaton said before setting the coin down on the table. "One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?" He was referring to the couple that had recently been murdered, the husband and wife. The police were stumped by it, but Scott and his friends had worked out that the Kanima had killed the husband, but for whatever reason hadn't been able to kill the wife. However, someone else had killed the wife who had been taken to hospital to deliver her baby. From the timeline of events that we'd worked out, the Kanima had killed the husband the same night it ran into me and Erica, although it was only after we encountered it, that it killed him.

Scott was the first one to offer up a suggested answer for Deaton's question. "I don't think Jackson could do it. His mother died pregnant too, and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else." Made sense to me, but then Isaac brought up another good point.

"How do you know it's not part of the rules? The Kanima kills murderers."

Picking up on what he was saying, I continued with, "So he couldn't kill the wife because he'd be killing the baby, and the baby's not a murderer?"

"Yeah," Isaac said in agreement. "Or maybe the wife wasn't even a murderer?"

"Does that mean your father was a murderer?" Scott asked Isaac.

"Wouldn't surprise me if he was," Isaac said with a shrug.

Frowning, I then pointed out, "But that means everyone the Kanima has killed, has to have been a murderer, with the exception of the wife, who we're guessing the master killed him or herself. Isn't that quite a lot of murderers for Beacon Hills?" There was a silence around the group that suggested maybe that wasn't so unusual. I then reminded myself of the supernatural war between Hunters and Werewolves. "All right, but none of them are supernatural, so you're telling me all these people got away with regular old murderer?"

"Have you seen our police department?" Isaac asked mockingly before Scott gently whacked his arm in warning, shooting him a glare for bashing on his best friend's dad. I could see Isaac's point though. For years his dad had been beating him and nobody – not even the police – suspected anything. Add on the apparent cluster of human murderers supposedly in our town and I found it hard not to criticise the police force either.

"Hold on," Deaton then said, bring the conversation back to how to stop the Kanima as he turned to Derek. "The book says they're bonded, right?" Derek nodded. "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson, but from the person controlling him? What if," he paused, picking up and opening one of the bottles with a fine grey-black powder inside. "Something that affects the Kanima…" Another pause as Deaton poured the powder around the coin on the table, making a complete circle around before stopping. "Also affects its master?"

"Meaning what?" Isaac asked, not quite getting it. Even I only got it a split second before Scott said it.

"Meaning we can catch them. Both of them." Deaton nodded.

"But how?" I asked, frowning. "It's not like trapping it in an enclosed space will trap its master. If that were the case then when Derek slit its throat the master should have died, right?"

"You're right, Dylan," agreed Deaton, as he lifted the bottle he'd just used. "Which is why we'll use this."

"And what's that going to do?" I asked cockily. He smiled a little, before setting down the bottle and gesturing to the coin on the table, still surrounded by the powder he'd poured.

"Try and take the coin," he said. I looked to Derek who nodded, giving me the go ahead. He wasn't giving anything away so I shrugged and went to grab the coin, only to find my hand unwilling to go any further forward. My frown deepened, as I tried to reach over the powder and get the coin, but my hand refused to move any further forward. It wasn't like there was an invisible wall or anything, it was just my hand wouldn't move across the line for whatever reason. I recognised the feeling, knowing I'd felt it somewhere before, but it wasn't as strong and that made it hard to place.

"It's mountain ash," Deaton explained, as he reached over the barrier around the coin and picked it up, dropping it into my hand. "When it forms a complete circuit, nothing supernatural can pass over it, in either direction."

"Meaning if we get both the Jackson and his master inside that ring before we close it–" Scott began to say.

"We'll trap them both," Derek concluded, satisfied that we now had a plan that would work against the Kanima. There was a little more discussion after that, about where we'd trap the Kanima and its master as well as other logistics. Such as the fact that only a human could lay the mountain ash barrier, meaning Stiles apparently.

The venue for our trap would be the rave that was happening tomorrow night, which according to Scott, Jackson was attending after acquiring tickets in a trance like state. Which lead to the assumption that the master wanted him to be there, and after his toy had failed to kill the wife, the idea was that the master would want to make sure the Kanima went through with its kill this time, by being there to supervise. Deaton also provided Scott with a drug to subdue Jackson, so that he wouldn't kill anyone while the barrier was put in place. The rest was left up to Derek to decide before the night, in terms of where he wanted us, his Pack. He said he'd have it finalised before the rave, and then we went home for the night.

I didn't inform Erica of the meeting until the car ride to school the next day. She'd known it was happening, but Derek hadn't wanted her to be there, just me and Isaac. And she'd been asleep when I got in afterwards, so the car ride was the first chance I got to tell her. Overall she seemed satisfied with the plan, but I could tell she was still scared of the Kanima, even if she refused to admit it. I was worried about her, especially after the seizure. She'd never expected that to happen again, none of us had.

We'd slept in her bed that night, she'd needed me and needed her own bed. She'd been better the next day and constantly improving since, but there was still a lingering sense of fear around her. The fear that her nightmare would come back. I was almost tempted to talk to Derek about it, but he wouldn't understand. Plus Erica wouldn't want to be left out, and she wasn't going to admit she was scared, not any more. So I'd just have to be an extra protective big sister if Derek sent her into the rave.

Once we arrived at school, the day went by fairly smoothly. Not much happened outside of a normal school day until lunch, when I gathered Erica, Isaac and Boyd and we all joined Scott and Stiles for lunch. This apparently came as a shock to them, making them both jump a little when me, Isaac and Boyd sat opposite them and Erica sat down next to Stiles on the other side. She shot him a smile, and after the initial shock, he smiled back – before he then remembered who she was and quickly shook himself. It had been enough, and I saw Erica's smile broaden when she looked my way. I winked at her before turning to Scott and Stiles, ready to get down to business.

"So, where are our tickets?" I asked. It had been agreed the previous night that dumb and dumber would handle getting tickets for everyone, including all of the Pack. Derek had promised to pay for all of them later, which was about the only reason Scott had agreed to do it at the time. Now, it was becoming apparent that it had been a mistake to leave that particular task to these two.

"We don't have any," Scott answered begrudgingly.

"You're aware the rave is tonight, right?" Isaac asked sarcastically as he leaned down on the table.

"Yes, we know. It's just…no one's selling." At his lamely delivered response, I shared a look with Isaac, the pair of us smiling smugly before we turned back to the pair of idiots sat next to my sister.

"How the hell do you two losers even survive?" Isaac then asked slowly.

This time it was Scott and Stiles who shared an exasperated look. "Why are we joining forces with them exactly?" Stiles asked, sounding a little befuddled.

"Haven't you heard, Stiles?" I asked playfully with a flutter of my eyelids for that innocent effect. "We're on the same team now."

"And with us on your side, you get access to all our…assets," Erica drawled out in a seductive tone, as she leaned over towards Stiles, sliding her hand along his thigh. And I could tell from Stiles dropped jaw and wide eyes, that she now definitely had his full attention. However, in his haste to get her hand off him, when Stiles tried to stand, he ended up toppling backwards awkwardly and landing on the floor with a thud that caught the whole room's attention.

While Scott looked down to check on his friend, Erica looked to me with a grin which I returned. Progress, was apparently being made. It would just be nice if we could make progress on the tickets at the same time.

"I'm okay," Stiles announced, even though no one cared, as he climbed back up and sat himself back down. Although before he did, he pushed Scott into his original seat and sat down in his, using the most recent addition to our Pack as a buffer between him and Erica. Something which Scott didn't seem to understand as he looked back and forth between the two, frowning while Stiles refused to look in Erica's direction. His cheeks just a little bit more red than before. Erica, seemed very satisfied with herself as she watched the two next to her.

"So, do you guys have any ideas?" Scott asked feebly, looking across to us when he gave up on trying to figure out what was going on between Stiles and Erica.

"We've got a few," Boyd answered, in a tone that said he trusted the pair about as much as the rest of the Pack did.

"As a matter of fact…" Isaac began to say, lifting his head as he watched a group of students go by, tickets in each of their hands. All of us followed them with our eyes as they passed our table. "We might just able able to fix your problem right now." Standing up, Isaac looked to Boyd and then nodded in the direction of the group with the tickets. "Come on, Boyd."

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Scott asked.

"We're going to get the tickets," Boyd said plainly, before Isaac started cracking his knuckles. Scott then proceeded to stammer out a series of noes, which Stiles quickly joined in on as they each reached over and pulled Isaac and Boyd back down to their seats.

"You can't just go and beat them up?" Scott argued once everyone was back in their seats.

"All right, and what was your brilliant idea again?" Isaac asked rhetorically.

I could see this issue wasn't going to get resolved easily, and the longer it went on, the more tense things were going to get between the Pack and its newest member – as well as its newest member's best friend. Derek wouldn't want that, and it would end up effecting the plan tonight. That was something we couldn't afford, so I was going to have to step in like Derek would expect me to at this time. "Relax, boys," I said, raising my hands to both sides of the table. "I happen to know a very civilised way in which we can acquire tickets." All the boys frowned back at me, but I looked to Erica who grinned as she nodded in agreement.

Together, we flawlessly rose from each side of the table and then strode over to the group of ticket holders. The all _male_ ticket holders. It didn't take as much work as I'd thought, being beautiful did tend to make everything a lot easier. A few promises of double dates, a few suggestions of something more – of which would never happen – and a lot of flirting and the boys were practically throwing their tickets at us, promising they'd find more for themselves and met up with us at the rave. We promised to save them a dance, which they were never going to get and then returned to the table where Isaac and Boyd were already standing.

Me and Erica each placed one ticket on the table, and then slid them over to Scott and Stiles. "Two tickets, as requested," I said smugly. "See, there are benefits to this partnership," I said with a pointed look to Stiles, before smiling and waving goodbye, as me and my Pack walked away. Now with the school day almost over, all we had to do was go to the rave, and catch the Kanima and its master. Easy, right?


	27. The Night of the Rave

Stood outside, I found myself second guessing my attire yet again. Looking down at my body I saw more skin than cloths. I didn't think that was a problem in itself. I was proud of my body now, confident in it and damn anyone who disagreed with what I wanted to wear. That said if a fight broke out – which it more than likely would – I had nothing to cover my wounds with should I need to hide them. The cloths I had on where too tight and small to risk tearing apart to cover a few scratches on my arms. Then again, if a fight did break out, what I was wearing would be the least of my worries.

Keeping that in mind, I found myself once again comfortable with what I had on. Around my chest, I had a strapless black crop top with and red printed love heart over my real one, which left my arms bare, my cleavage just visible and my belly button more than visible. Then around my lower waist, I had an extremely short leather skirt which matched Erica's and a pair of high boots that were both comfortable, suitable for fighting, and stylish. I also had a watch on my left wrist, with a neon face, and several bracelets around my right wrist, that could easily be ripped of if need be. It was all part of blending in, and the watch was worn by Derek's orders. And of course I had my ever present crescent moon locket around my neck.

Overall, I looked damn good, and felt justified in slapping Isaac when he complained about me taking too long. It had been worth it. I looked like I belonged, and I was ready to kick ass, without being hindered by my cloths.

"All right, Boyd, you'll stay out here with me," Derek explained, dishing out the orders now that the entire Pack – bar Scott – had assembled. We were stood in front of him, in a single line consisting of Boyd, me, Erica and Isaac. "You'll be back-up alone with me." Boyd nodded in acknowledgement. "The rest of you will be going in to help Scott locate, and then capture Jackson."

"You mean the Kanima," Isaac corrected.

"I mean, _Jackson_," Derek stressed, a hint of a growl directed towards Isaac.

"Why are we even doing this?" Isaac continued to protest, taking a ballsy step forward. "We know Jackson is the Kanima, why not just kill and get this over with?"

"Because, like I've told you umpteen times, we've tried that and it doesn't work. So we're going to capture him inside, find out who's controlling him, and kill them instead," Derek growled, to which Isaac fell back in line with the rest of us, having been put in his place. "We have a plan, so stick to it."

He then paused to recompose himself, calming down after his anger flared because of Isaac. "Now, while your inside, Dylan will be in charge of you both," he declared with a nod to both Isaac and Erica, who in turn looked to me.

I knew I swallowed then, but I wasn't sure if everyone else heard me, even with their Werewolf hearing. I was nervous. Not just because we were going up against the Kanima again, but because I was going to be in charge of Isaac and Erica. I was going to be responsible for their lives and be expected to make decisions like our Alpha would. It was a lot of pressure for a girl who was only turned into a Werewolf around a month ago.

Looking over, I got nothing but comfort from my Pack. I knew Erica and Isaac wouldn't give me trouble. Sure Isaac had a teasing smile on, but I knew he would only tease, never challenge or undermine me. And Erica was my sister, who would have my back no matter what. But even so it did little to reassure me.

"Dylan," Derek said, catching my attention before nodding away from the rest of the Pack. I caught his meaning and followed him as he lead me away. We didn't go to far, and if the Pack had wanted too, they could have heard us, but with Derek making it clear this was to be privet, I doubted they'd listen in. It would probably count as a disregard for their Alpha's orders.

"Keep your phone on. I'll do the same so we can stay in contact when necessary. If that should fail, and your think your all in serious danger, howl. It doesn't matter where you are, or whose around. Just howl, and I'll come." I appreciated that reassurance, but I also knew I'd only be doing that if everyone of our lives were in danger. Something which I was actively hoping to avoid during my first time leading part of the Pack.

"I also want you to follow Scott's lead." I did my best not sigh, but part of it just slipped out. "I know you don't like him. You probably don't even trust him, but he knows what he's doing, more so than you."

"Then why put me in charge, why not him?" I asked back.

Credit to him, he gave me a straight answer. "I don't trust him either. I'm not putting the Pack in his hands. And if you seriously question any of his decisions, call me. But unless I tell you otherwise, follow Scott and help him capture Jackson."

"Okay," I agreed quietly, wondering if Derek had heard me when he started to stare at me a little tensely.

"Are you going to be okay?" he then asked.

I shrugged, not entirely sure. "Just not sure I'm ready to lead is all."

He smiled a little at that. "You are ready. And if you really need me, just call. But trust your instincts. They're good, just like your senses. Remember your tracker training, and everything else." I nodded, smiling back at him. More reassured in myself.

"You're improving as an Alpha," I complimented, to which his smile broadened a little.

After that he sent us in, me at the front flanked by Isaac and Erica, all ready to prove ourselves and take on the Kanima. Even if we disagreed with the way we were doing it. Although any linger doubts were quickly swept away by the atmosphere of the rave. Even from outside we'd been able to hear the faint thuds of a musical beat from inside. But once we stepped inside, it consumed us. My body was aching to dance, to let lose and thrive in the attention I deserved. But I had a mission, and so did the rest of the Pack… Although, that didn't mean we couldn't have some fun while we worked.

So while we searched for Jackson, the three of us danced across the floor, pushing our way through group after group in our search for him. I'll admit, there were a couple of times were I got distracted, drowning in the attention boys were giving me – especially the cute ones – and getting lost in the music. Thankfully I had Isaac and Erica to pull me out of my daze, although I'd be willing to bet they both got distracted far more than I did.

Then, nearly half an hour into our search, we found Scott who'd apparently been looking for us instead of Jackson. As he then went on to explain, Allison was here, a fact of which I cared very little about. Until he then pointed out she had an army of Hunters backing her up, and that they were planning on killing the Kanima. My reaction was much the same as Isaac's. _ Why not let them just kill it?_ I didn't say it though, I knew what Derek would do, or rather what he'd want me to do.

So I told Isaac to shut up and to call Derek to let him know what was happening. I then asked Erica to do the same with Boyd, in case Isaac had trouble getting through to Derek, what with the noise. Once I'd given out those orders, I turned back to Scott who took me aside before pulling out the syringe that he was going to be using on Jackson. The one with the drug that would render him unconscious. "You're going to need this," Scott explained, showing me the syringe that was in his hands, without making it obvious to those still around us.

"Why are you giving this to me?" I asked, not understanding.

"Because I got to make sure that Argent doesn't completely ruin the plan," Scott explained. Not wasting time, he then moved on to explain the idea behind the syringe. "You gotta do it intravenously, which means in the vein. Otherwise it will take longer to take effected, if it works at all." I nodded, showing I understood despite my uninterested demeanour.

"When you find him, you pull back on this plunger right here," Scott then continued, holding the part at the end which I was to pull when I was ready. He then handed over the syringe, carefully putting it into my hand before he pointed towards my neck. "In the neck is probably going to be the easiest. So you find a vein, you jam it in there, and pull back on the trigger," he concluded, before motioning to the trigger on the strangely shaped syringe.

"Yeah, got it," I said before concealing the syringe in the back of my skirt. Yet another reason for me to have worn something different. But I couldn't be prepared for every scenario and look this good at the same time. There was no way I was going to be able to have my cake and eat it too.

Assuming the conversation was over, I turned to leave only to have Scott grab my wrist and pull me back towards him. "What?" I snapped, before pulling my wrist from him.

"Promise me you're going to stick to the plan," Scott said.

"Of course I'm going to stick to the plan," I snapped back, outraged that he'd question me. If it was just him that wanted it then I'd understand, but now he was questioning my loyalty to Derek, to my Alpha. I wouldn't stand for that. "Even if it is a stupid plan," I let slip, but I stood my ground regardless. Not letting it show that it'd been a mistake.

"Just promise me," Scott stressed, leaning towards me and entering my personal space.

"Fine," I growled back, my annoyance flaring for a moment. "I promise to stick to the plan."

Again I turned to leave, and again he pulled me back by my wrist. If he did that again, I was so going to rip his face off. "And be careful," Scott said softly.

"Oh, for God's sake, Scott. I already promised to stick to the plan, now you don't want me to hurt the guy! I doubt he'll even feel it under all those scales," I snapped at him angrily. But rather than reciprocate my anger, Scott just continued to stare at me with those big caring brown eyes of his.

"No, I mean you. You be careful," Scott explained, which made my mouth drop a little, shocked at the fact that he was caring about me. Me, the girl who'd been making his life so difficult recently, making him uncomfortable with my flirting and fighting him every chance I got, and just being very uncooperative overall. And despite all that he still cared about what happened to me.

"I don't want you or anyone else getting hurt."

"Why?" I found myself asking, staring back at him like he was a stranger to me. "Why do you care if I get hurt?"

All Scott could do to answer that question was shrug. "I just…do," he said before then stepping back, turning, and running towards the exit. Even once he was gone, my eyes were still glued to the spot where I'd last seen him, trying to work out why he cared. From the sounds of things, he didn't know himself. But he did care. And I wasn't entirely sure what that meant for him, or even for me. But I did feel something in that moment. Something warm and comforting that made me glad he cared about me.

Shaking it off, I returned to Isaac and Erica, informing them that I now had the syringe and that Scott had gone outside to help Derek and Boyd deal with the Hunters. Erica asked if they should call again, but I saw little point since Scott would probably be with them by now. Our job now was to find Jackson and sedate him. Once I conveyed that order, we set to work, making our way through the crowd until we found Jackson.

Once we had him in our sights, we moved in. Erica was the first to get to him, running her hand across his shoulder before stepping out in front of him. Before he could say anything, she claimed his mouth with hers, kissing him as I came up behind, grinding against him with Isaac behind me. I then turned Jackson towards me with Erica's help, and I then claimed his mouth while Erica helped me hold him.

He seemed to be getting into it, the distraction working as the four of us danced away from inside the crowd. Satisfied that we had him preoccupied, I reached back, forming my claws and poked Isaac. It would have been enough to draw blood, but he didn't give anything away. And that was the agreed upon signal that I was ready, so he knew it was coming.

Stilling smiling as if all was perfect, I turned Jackson back around, pressing my waist to his back as I lead him into Erica. She pressed herself against his front in turn, running her hands along his chest while I wrapped one around his waist. The other reached back to remove the syringe from my skirt, while Isaac slid around so that he was behind Erica, adding to the distraction.

With everything ready, I reached up, ready to drive the syringe into his neck when suddenly I felt claws grab my wrist. Somehow, miraculously, they didn't break the skin. Which was a damn good thing because I saw instantly that they were Jackson's claws.

"He belongs to me," Jackson snarled, glaring right at Erica who began to shrink beneath his gaze. His other hand then reached up, claws having formed, ready to slash her.

"Erica!" I yelled, but it was barely audible above the music. She must have heard me though, as she snapped from her frightened trance and caught Jackson's hand with both of hers, before he could cut her with his paralytic claws.

Another window then opened before me, and I looked to Isaac who caught my gaze. He knew my plan instantly, and I knew he knew. The Pack bond perhaps? Or maybe we were just growing so close that we could tell each other thoughts and moves because of our enhanced Werewolf senses. In any case, I let go of the syringe and Isaac caught it in mid fall, pressing himself against Erica's back as he reached forward and jammed the syringe into the exposed neck of Jackson.

And just like that his claws retracted and his hold on my wrist fell away. The rest of him however, fell towards me and I staggered back in order to keep him up. Isaac quickly came around to help me, taking Jackson's weight from me and helping me to carry him to the prearranged spot with Erica in toe. As we went though, I couldn't help but smile. It had actually worked, and all according to plan this time. We had Jackson – the Kanima – and soon we'd have his master too, and this whole thing would be behind us. I might actually owe Scott an apology this one time. He had actually managed to pull it off…with help of course. And with that in mind, I decided I wouldn't be apologising to him. But that didn't stop me from smiling.


	28. Haunting

The spot where we were to wait with Jackson was one of the, 'bathrooms,' on the other side of the building. Stiles was supposed to meet us there but shockingly, he wasn't there upon arrival. So we dumped Jackson into the fold out chair in the corner and then proceeded to wait together in the unnecessarily large bathroom that housed one toilet and that was it. Then again, it was a high school rave in the warehouse district of Beacon Hills, you took what you could get.

"Should we…tie him up?" Isaac suggested, as the three of us stood, staring at the unconscious Jackson in the chair before us.

"You got any rope?" I asked, arms folded as I stood in between Erica and Isaac.

"No," he answered.

"You know where to get some?" I asked.

"…No."

I shot him a smug smile, enjoying the light moment of teasing. "Think you've answered your question there," I pointed out.

"Next time someone should bring something to tie him up," Isaac suggested as he ran his hand along his jaw.

"I'm actually hoping there isn't going to be a next time," I muttered before we all shot around to the door as it opened. Erica, being the closest, was ready to punch the person who was intruding, but stopped when she saw Stiles throw up his hands in peace.

"No, no, no! Just me, it's just me!" Stiles quickly exclaimed before coming in and closing the door once we lowered our claws. He then moved in between me and Erica, looking to me as he nodded towards Jackson, hands on his hips. "Is he okay?"

"He's not dead, if that's what your worried about," I pointed out with sarcastic cheer to my voice.

"Although we can change that," Isaac said, stepping forward and bringing out his claws.

"Hey, hey!" Stiles began to protest, but backed up into Erica when Isaac turned to him.

"Isaac," I warned halfheartedly, not particularly caring all that much if he were to kill him now. It would certainly make my life easier.

"Relax," Isaac said with a sly grin. "I'm just making sure he's sedated." He then turned to Jackson, going to cut his chest with his claws, when Jackson's hand suddenly caught his wrist. At first Isaac was caught off guard like the rest of us, but then he started to groan and wince in pain as Jackson's hold on his wrist apparently tightened. Thinking he was going to break Isaac's wrist, I stepped in, grabbing hold of Jackson's hand and Isaac's arm before prying them apart. Once I did, I quickly pulled Isaac back while the bear trap that was Jackson's hand dropped to his side once more.

"Okay, no one does anything like that again, okay?" Stiles exclaimed as he looked between us all. I ignored him, setting Isaac down on the toilet while I checked his wrist, although I did catch Erica nodding her head in furious agreement with Stiles. I spared her a glance and saw her eyes fixed on Jackson before I went back to Isaac, checking on his wrist. It looked bruised, but not broken, and would hopefully be healed in a few moments.

"You'll live. Just give it a few minutes to heal," I said with a soft smile before I stood up, turning back to examine Jackson who was just as still as he'd been before. And apparently just as deadly, even if he appeared unconscious. I looked over to Erica, seeing her shaking ever so slightly.

"I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out," Isaac groaned out, still holding wrist which wasn't as bad as he was making out to be.

"Yeah, well, apparently this is all we're going to get. So let's just hope that whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight," Stiles said aloud as I stepped past him to take Erica's hand. She jumped at first, blushing a little before she realised it was me and the red slowly faded away.

"You doing okay?" I whispered, not wanting to attract the attention of Stiles or Isaac who were both arguing about the state of Isaac's wrist.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine," Erica said nodding before she forced on a brave smile. I was proud of her for that, for powering on through even though we both knew she was scared. She never could have done this before, so even if she might've thought she was back sliding after the seizure, this was proof to me that she was still stronger than ever. And I was just so proud of her for that. So I smiled back, before our heads then shot towards Jackson as he suddenly spoke.

"I'm here," Jackson said, his voice scarily deep and unnatural as he glared at us through eyes that were halfway up into his head. "I'm right here with you."

"The master?" I asked, leaning over towards Stiles.

"Think so," Stiles said while nervously nodding his head. He then looked to me, and I looked back, before we both crept forward, crouching down in front of Jackson so that we were eye level with him. We shared another look, unsure now that we were closer. But I was surprised by how Stiles held his nerve, turning back to Jackson and asking, "Jackson, is that you?"

"Us. We're all here," Jackson said, still glaring with his head lowered and voice just as mysteriously deep.

"God, that's creepy," I murmured, fighting the urge to run at how utterly terrifying this all was. Another look from Stiles told me he was feeling the same before he asked his next question.

"Are you the one killing people?"

"We are the ones killing murderers," deep voiced Jackson answered firmly.

"So all the people you've killed so far–" Stiles began to ask, before Jackson cut him off angrily.

"Deserved it," he snapped.

"That doesn't make them murderers," I pointed out bravely, before I then had to swallow the lump in my throat.

"And we've got a little rule book that says you only go after murderers," Stiles added, backing me up.

"Anything can break if enough pressure's applied," Jackson explained.

"All right, so the people you're killing are all murderers then?" Stiles asked somewhat skeptically.

"All. Each. Every. One," Jackson said slowly.

"Okay. This might be an obvious question, but who did they murder?" I asked slowly.

"Me," Jackson answered, or rather the master answered using Jackson's voice.

"Wait, what?" Stiles asked in confusion.

"They murdered me," Jackson growled out in anger.

Stiles and I looked to one another again, during which I asked, "That's creepy right?"

"Definitely creepy," agreed Stiles.

"Although not as creepy as that," pointed out Isaac. We both looked to see him up on his feet now, stood alongside a trembling Erica, both staring at what was in front of me and Stiles. Slowly we turned back around, jumping back and up to our feet when we saw Jackson's eyes had shifted into their Kanima form.

"They murdered me," Jackson repeated, trembling just as badly as Erica as he straightened up, head raising to reveal the scales that were beginning to form along his body. Quickly me and Stiles back up along with Erica and Isaac, all of us up against the wall as we watched Jackson's shift before our eyes.

Feeling Erica's fear radiating off her, I raised my arm before her, using myself to shield her from the creature that was growing before us, the creature that would undoubtable cause us more pain if we let it. But I wouldn't let it get to Erica, not until it got through me. I would protect her, and my Pack – and yes even Stiles in this strange moment in time, as I raised my arm to force him behind me also.

"Okay, all right. More ketamine. The man needs ketamine. Come one," Stiles declared.

"We don't have anymore," I answered, eyes remaining on Jackson as he stared back at us all, his head rolling from one side to the other.

"You used the whole bottle?" Stiles said in disbelief.

"I used what Scott gave me," I snapped back through a clenched jaw.

"Did you not think to ask for more?" Stiles snapped, which made me finally turn to face him, glaring at him as I bared my angry teeth at him too.

"No! I assumed Scott had given me enough," I snapped back.

"Well, clearly he didn't," shouted Stiles.

"Obviously," I agreed, just as angry despite the fact we were agreeing, although I was pretty sure we were still fighting.

"Guys," Erica said nervously, tapping my shoulder as me and Stiles turned to her, only to then follow her paralysed gaze towards Jackson, who was up on his feet now. The entire right side of his body now covered in scales and looking more like the Kanima with each passing second. Then he suddenly hissed at us, making us all jump as we got a look at his slimy, little sharp teeth. Immediately after he finished, his head started shaking about like mad, his body suddenly twisting this way and that way as more scales appeared on his body, his hair falling form his head as it reshaped itself into the Kanima's.

"Dylan?" Erica whimpered.

"Get out. Everybody out!" Dylan shouted before Stiles and Isaac shouted in agreement. I stepped towards the door, but ushered the others out behind me first, while I kept my eyes on Jackson and his horrifically terrifying transformation. From behind me, Erica grabbed Stiles hand as she lead the way out. Isaac was right behind them and once I knew he was practically out, I followed before I then slammed the door shut. I braced myself against it only for the others to all slam their bodies into mine, making sure that the door definitely remained shut.

"Okay, I'll find something to move in front of the door and then we'll–" before Stiles got to finish just saying his idea, the Kanima burst through the wall next to us. Breaking apart the metal wall and leaving a gaping hole next to us before it scurried off at immense speed on all fours.

Leaving the four of us behind with matching expressions of shock, horror and panic.

"Well, now what do we do?" Isaac exclaimed, though didn't dare to move along with the rest of us, in case the Kanima suddenly came running back.

It took me about a second to make a decision. "Outside. Now. We'll regroup with Derek and Scott." There was no arguments as we all broke away from the door and ran like crazy towards the exits. And despite not being supernatural, Stiles was the one who ran the furthest and the quickest. Then again, considering the amount of Werewolves he knew, he probably did his fair share of running. When a crowd of people began to leave we got cut off from him as he ran on a head.

Seeing she was still nervous and scared, eyes twitching as she looked around, I pulled Erica towards me and took Isaac's hand with my other. We were going to be fine, we just needed to get to Derek. So I guided them through the crowd, keeping them close until we got outside along with the crowd we'd joined. Derek was already waiting for us with Stiles, but that was when I realised our problem, something I don't think any of us had thought about.

I felt it instantly, looking down along with my Pack, seeing the line of mountain ash that I presumed stretched around the whole building. That was when I recognised the feeling. Before with my hand, my brain hadn't been able to make sense of it, but looking down at it now, I knew this feeling. It was as if I were standing at the edge of a cliff, the ash line being the edge, and I couldn't step over it for fear of falling to my death. Only there wasn't a fear of death from falling, just a part of my brain that refused to let me step over it because of some unknown reason. But I knew I couldn't step over it, I could feel it, and so could Isaac and Erica. All of us now realising we were trapped. Inside the mountain ash barrier. With the Kanima.

Cheerful Stiles however, did not realise this. "Oh, my God. It's working! Oh, this is – I did something," Stiles said, pleased with himself as he celebrated next to Derek who was staring helplessly at us, knowing he couldn't get to us, just like we couldn't get to him.

It was then something else occurred to me, and I frowned. Looking around to confirm it before looking back to Derek who met my eye. "Where's Scott?" I asked. Derek didn't need to answer my question though, because I then suddenly knew where Scott was and I knew he was in danger. Because he howled. And I felt him in that howl, his pain, his need for help and his call to us. I turned back to building and I instinctively knew where to go. Isaac and Erica were staring at the building too, but when they turned back to me I knew they didn't understand it the way I did – although I didn't understand how I understood it myself.

"Break it," I heard Derek order Stiles from behind.

"What?" Stiles said in confusion. "No way."

"Scott's dying!" Derek exclaimed, pointing towards the building as me and the rest of the Pack looked to him and Stiles.

"Okay, what? How do you know that?" Stiles stammered.

"Oh, my God, Stiles, I just know! Break it!" Derek snapped, to which Stiles let out an annoyed grunt mixed in with a groan before he waved his hands over the mountain ash and the line broke. And with it broken, the edge of the cliff vanished and I knew I could now step over the line as I pleased. I was free once more, no longer a caged wolf. But no sooner was I free, than my Alpha was dishing out fresh orders. "Dylan, come with me. You two, stay with him."

I spared Erica a glance, making sure she was all right before running after Derek. She seemed all right now that she was free and outside, away from the Kanima, but she had looked worried. Worried for me. I just hoped that worry was unnecessary as I ran after Derek, heading towards where I'd heard Scott's howl come from.

Derek got to the room first, barging in without a thought for himself. I shouted for him to wait, my instincts telling me something was wrong, but he went in anyway. I followed, but was too late as a woman came at him from behind and stabbed him in the back with a knife. I shouted, ready to fight her off when Derek kicked her back and chased her towards the corner of the room. "Get Scott!" Derek ordered before ducking under another knife swing by the crazy woman in the shadows of the misty room.

Reluctantly I followed my Alpha's wishes, going to Scott who was on the floor. It was only when I reached him that I realised what was in the air. Wolfsbane. I was already choking on it, coughing and spluttering as I grabbed Scott. My shift took over without my say, which only seemed to make things worse. I knew I had to be fast, if not for Scott then for myself. So I wrapped both arms around his chest and heaved him towards the door, dragging him out before I collapsed through the doorway.

Now in wolfsbane free air, I inhaled deeply before looking to Scott who lay next to me on the ground. Only his chest wasn't moving. "Scott? Scott?" Nothing. I dragged him away from the doorway, getting him away from the wolfsbane before I rolled him onto his back. I knew some basic ways to check if someone was breathing, putting my ear to his nose and mouth, but even with my enhanced hearing I couldn't hear or feel him breathing.

He need CPR. Luckily I'd done a class, along with several others that I could use to help Erica whenever she had a seizure. Fat load of good it'd done me recently, but right now it might just be the thing that saves Scott's life. Opening up his mouth, I started pressing down on his chest with both hands. Pressing in a rhythmic beat of, 'One, two, three, four.' Once I'd done that twice, I breathed into mouth twice, forcing the fresh air into his body and hopefully expelling the wolfsbane from his lungs. Another round of pressing on his chest, before I breathed into his mouth once more. And this time, when my lips left his, he coughed, splutter a bit, then look up at me, knelt over him by his side.

I smiled, surprised to be happy that he was alive. I chalked it up to the fact that he was a temporary member of the Pack. There was no way I was starting to care for, or even like, this annoying idiot. For one thing he was way too nice.

He smiled in thanks, but then quickly passed out, head dipping back. He was still breathing though, and he'd shifted back to normal now too. Hardly surprising consider how long he'd probably been inside that steam room of wolfsbane. I'd only been in for a few seconds and I thought I was going to die.

The sound of someone coming out made me turn, sighing when I saw it was Derek, albeit an exhausted and heavily breathing Derek. "What happened to the woman?" I asked, only then realising how heavily I was breathing as well.

"She got away," Derek said, stepping over to my side as he looked down at Scott.

"What are we going to do about her?" I breathed out, still catching my breath after the wolfsbane assault on my lungs.

"It's been taken care of," Derek said, refusing to elaborate any further. I didn't want to ask either, so I let the matter go as he wished. "Are you able to walk?" he asked his gaze shifting to me. I nodded, taking his hand as he helped me to my feet. He then took Scott in both arms before he led me back outside.

Once outside, Stiles, Erica and Isaac bombarded us with questions, very few of which Derek and I managed to answer before Derek shut them all up with a warning growl. He then explained he was taking Scott and me to Dr. Deaton to be checked out. While he was doing that he wanted Isaac and Erica to go home and rest. He didn't really care what Stiles did. And after a car ride in Derek's car, the three of us were at the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, in the examining room with Scott on the table. Derek was sat in a chair, more exhausted then he was willing to admit I bet, while I was sat on the counter. I would have been sat up on the examining table but since Scott occupied that, Deaton had told me to wait by the counter. I'd taken that as an invitation to sit on it. He never said anything.

He started off with his examination of Scott. Giving him a few things that seemed to bring him out of his unconscious state before he fell under once more. I don't no why, but Deaton reassured me that he was fine, just sleeping. I hadn't been concerned, and I doubted my face said I was. I never got a chance to ask why he thought I was worried, but even if I did I doubted I'd have the energy to listen to his explanation.

Once he was then done with Scott, he came over to me. He checked my vitals in various old fashioned ways, took my temperature, tested my reaction time. When his little tests were all done he offered me a tablet of some kind which I took. It tasted disgusting, which I made more than clear with my gagging. Deaton smiled. "Don't worry, the taste will only last until the morning. It should help get the wolfsbane out of your system a little faster."

"Thanks…I think," I muttered, and Deaton smiled back, clapping his hand on my shoulder before he added on to my prescription.

"What you need now is rest."

I would have been more than happy to follow his suggestion, but he wasn't my Alpha. So I looked past him to Derek, sat in his chair with his arms folded. He looked to me and gave a tired nod, to which I smiled gratefully. I was so in need of my bed, and now that it was under doctor's orders, I was doubly sure I wanted it now. So I slid off the counter, thanked both the doctor and my Alpha before bidding them a good night. I even murmured one to Scott on the way out, hoping that he got better soon. He was a Pack mate after all, even if temporary.

As I walked through the clinic though, I remembered I didn't have my car, which meant a long walk to the warehouse where the rave had been to collect it. My mood dropped once more, my body slouching as I left the building. And then my mood immediately brightened, seeing who was waiting for me.

It was Erica. Despite her orders she'd come to get me. She didn't have the car, she wasn't a legalised driver yet, but her company would make the walk there fly by before we climbed into our beds. And if she wanted to share then we were going in mine cause I really needed my own bed. She was fine with that, and did her own check up on me as we walked through the quiet streets of Beacon Hills. And thankfully, there wasn't a Kanima in sight for the rest of the night.


	29. It Comes Again

The sun wasn't even close to setting when Derek summoned the whole Pack to the lair. If it had been just me I would have been a lot more annoyed at being treated like a child. But with Erica and Boyd yet to experience their first full moon, I could understand were he was coming from. I was still annoyed with him though, and I was very conscious of what the full moon was doing to my mind. I'd been sticking close to Erica for most of the day, her physical presence for the most part, enough to keep me relaxed. It seemed to do the same for her, but as the day went on, we both began snapping at each other. It was something we rarely did and we were both very much aware of what was going on, which lead to quick apologies until we both got sick of hearing them and said we'd apologise to each other for everything tomorrow.

It was probably the best idea we'd had all day.

Even so, having already gone through a full moon, I was keeping it together a lot better than Erica was. The same went for Isaac, but Boyd nearly got into several fights throughout the day, until either me or Isaac snapped some sense into him. For that reason we all went in my car to Derek's, sticking together as a Pack in hopes that it would diminish the effects of the full moon even if only for a little while. And it worked, pretty damn well too. Apparently being in a Pack even gave you mental strength, not just physical.

Once we were at Derek's we gathered around as he dragged out the same chest from before. The one with the three interconnecting spirals. As he flipped open the chest, Isaac bent down to examine it. The rest of us were stood over by the subway carriage. Erica leaning against the entrance with me leaning on the outside next to her. Boyd was stood a little of to the side of us, his arms folded.

"What is that?" Isaac asked as he bent down, gesturing to the three interconnecting spirals.

"It's a triskele," Boyd answered, catching us all by surprise as we turned to him. Even our dear Alpha was impressed. "The spirals mean different things," Boyd then went onto explain. "Past, present, future. Mother, father, child."

"Do you know what it means to me?" Derek asked.

Boyd hazard a guess, and it was clear it was a guess by his voice. "Alpha, Beta, Omega?"

Even more impressed than before, Derek actually looked taken aback now. "That's right," he admitted, that ghost of a smile back once more. He stood up, giving us a mini lecture on why the interlinking circles represented the different classes of Werewolf. "It's a spiral. Reminds us that we can all rise to one or fall to another. Betas can become Alphas, but Alphas can also fall to Betas or even Omegas."

"Like Scott?" Isaac interjected, to which Derek turned to him. _Here we go_, I thought. Despite our partial success with the Kanima during the rave, Isaac still didn't like Scott being with the Pack. I wasn't too happy about it myself but I'd seen the results having Scott in the Pack had produced. It had given us our closest shot yet at the Kanima. All right it had mucked up a little at the end but it was still better than anything we'd done without him. Plus having saved his ass, he now owed us, big time. I preferred having my favours close and at the ready.

That said, he still didn't feel like a part of the Pack, something we Betas were all agreed on.

"Scott's with us," was all Derek said.

Isaac gave an exaggerated look around the room. "Really? Then where is he now?"

"He's looking for Jackson," Derek answered. I very much doubted that. He hadn't told me that prior to this and if it was true that meant he wasn't keeping me in the loop. Neither option I liked and the third was that he was simply saying it to shut Isaac up. Besides, Scott finding Jackson tonight wasn't going to do anybody any good. The only two that would be able to go after him would be Derek and possibly Scott – and while they would both be fighting to stay in control, that thing could be even more powerful and savage than normal.

Basically his answer didn't satisfy me, or anyone else in the Pack.

"Don't worry, he's not gonna have it easy tonight either. None of us will," Derek continued as he reached down into the chest to start pulling out the chains we'd be using tonight. The last time he'd taken them out was to check them over, make sure they were ready for tonight. I should know, it had been me and Isaac who helped him check them over. Although personally I was sure Isaac had been half arsing his work, though he denied it when Derek and I confronted him.

We'd find out tonight in any case.

"There's a price you pay for this kind of power," Derek went on, reminding us of what he'd said when he first bit each of us, as he handed off the first set of chains to Isaac. "You get the ability to heal, but tonight you're gonna want to kill anything you can find."

"Good thing I had my period last week," Erica spoke up, sighing dramatically as the rest of us looked to her. Isaac hid a smirk, conveniently taking an interest in the chains he was holding. Boyd was taken a back and I fought the urge to laugh, although I let a little slip. Shockingly Derek was a little amused by her remark, grinning as she looked his way with her head cocked. I briefly wondered if the full moon put him in more of light mood.

"Well, these two are for you and your sister," Derek said, revealing the reason for his grin as he held up two metallic headbands with screws all around it. Screws that when twisted far enough, would imbed them in our heads.

I looked to Erica. She was still smiling confidently but now had a frown along her forehead as if to ask, 'Is he serious?' I very much suspected that he was, which was why I smirked when I turned back to him, Erica backing me up with a grin of her own. "Kinky," I shot out with a flirtatious shrug.

"Since you think so, you can go last," Derek said, apparently thinking that was the worse option. Whether it was or not, all I knew was that I heard Erica groan, knowing she would be going before me. I turned, sticking out my tongue before she playfully pushed me and we laughed. Isaac and Boyd joined in before Derek then got us to help him with the chains.

Once we had all that sorted, it was time to start. The sooner the better being Derek's choice of sayings as we all piled into the subway car.

First to be chained up was Erica and Boyd, since they were the newest and therefore more susceptible to the effects of the full moon, having never experienced it before. So we all helped lug in their chains before Derek set to work chaining them both up. He got Boyd right at the back of the carriage, chaining him to the back seat and then his arms to the two rows in front. The goal with him was to restrict him as much as possible, since the more he could move, the more strength he could gather. And as the strongest physical member of the Pack other than Derek, we didn't want to give him a chance to use that strength of his.

"What if we break free?" Boyd asked nervously as Derek tied off the last of his chains.

"Then you'll do anything you can to get out of here. Probably try and kill me, then kill each other and kill anything else with a heartbeat," Derek listed off carelessly, having no time for questions that none of us should really be thinking about, especially with the sun now setting, and the moon now raising.

With Boyd then done, Derek turned to Erica, who he was going to be chaining up closest to Boyd at the back end of the carriage. "I need you to hold her," Derek instructed Isaac who pulled Erica's arms behind her. I moved to help but Derek shock his head as he picked up the headband. "Not you. You sit, because once I'm done with her, we're doing you next," Derek explained. So I sat down in the area were I was going to be chained up, near the front of the carriage across from where Isaac would be.

"So how come she and Dylan gets to wear the headband things?" Isaac asked.

"Because they'll be able to withstand more pain than you or Boyd," Derek answered. Erica seemed amused by this answer, though uncertain, but I knew it was true. I didn't know if it was a genetic thing with Werewolves, that females could stand more pain, or if it was all because of how we'd grown up. Then again, Boyd had constantly been alone and Isaac had been abused by his dad, so I couldn't see that making much sense.

"I've got an extra one if you really want it," Derek then offered Isaac. Part of me wanted him to take it, to test my theories on whether it was gender or personal experiences that dictated how much pain we could take. But Isaac turned down Derek's offer, so I wouldn't be getting an answer to my question today at least.

"You ready?" Derek asked Erica, who nodded. She was clearly nervous, but it would be over soon…I hoped. And then it would be my turn.

Lifting up the headband, Derek placed it around Erica's head before he then began with the first screw. At first Erica seemed to be able to handle it, letting out short gasps of pain. But then as Derek twisted it further in, her screams grew louder and more painful as blood began to dribble down from her forehead. And it wasn't quick either. The first screw took Derek almost a minute before he was satisfied with how tight it was, and then he had to do that another eleven times after that until he was finally done. With each screw he took more time, making sure it was tight as it could be before going onto the next, and then, even when he was finished, he went around and did them all again.

It amazed me Erica was still standing, never mind that she was conscious with the headband around her head. The rest of her chaining up didn't take as long. And then it was my turn. Isaac held me from behind like he had with Erica and I apologised for kicking him in the balls in advance. I didn't end up doing it but I thought better to be safe than sorry.

When the first screw was twisted in, it went much like it did with Erica. It wasn't so bad, just an irritation against the skin. But then it broke through, and I realised why it was so painful. While Derek was twisting the screw in, he was fighting my healing process, the regrouping tissue hindering his progress as he continued to twist, tearing away at my head from the inside. Trust me, it was worse than any pain a headache or migraine could give you, and even when he was done the pain was still there – before it then erupted in another part of my head as the next screw started to get put in. I honestly had no idea how Erica wasn't screaming even now. I wondered if she really had passed out from the pain and was just somehow remaining on her feet because of the full moon.

I must have blacked out a couple of times during the process, because some screws seemed to go in faster than others. I did shift a couple of times too, trying to claw at Derek while Isaac fought to hold me in place. It was only his hold and what little will power I could afford to spare, that stopped me from breaking free and tearing Derek a new one. By the time it was done, my head was throbbing and covered in blood. I didn't even want to think about what it was going to be like taking this thing off.

I sank down into my seat, letting Derek guide me as he chained up one of my arms to the seat I was sat on. He only did one though, wanting to get Isaac started since it had apparently taken longer than he thought to get me and Erica set up with the headbands.

I had no idea what he was talking about, until I felt the moon. My blood began to boil and I could feel the bloodlust raising like before. The beast inside of me was waking, thrashing about as it tried to get out, take over and kill everyone in sight, everyone I cared about. It didn't care, it just wanted the satisfaction of the kill, and I was already struggling to hold it back.

From behind me, Erica and Boyd started to scream. The beasts would be too much for them to contain tonight, it was their first time. The only reason me and Isaac weren't screaming was because we'd gone through it before. Knew what was to come and how to prepare ourselves, at least for the initial surge of the bloodlust. But we still had a full night to get through before this was over. And Derek still hadn't finished chaining me and Isaac up.

"How do you not feel this?' Isaac growled, not having shifted but in clear irritation, brought on by the full moon and the wolf inside him that was trying to escape and kill.

"I feel every second of it," Derek growled back, making his point as he finished securing Isaac's arm, having only done the large chains around his waist so far. Those were attached to something in every direction, making it near impossible for him to move or get up. The only part of him that could still move, was his arms and Derek was almost done with those as he started on the other one.

"Then how do you control it?" Isaac asked, after a period of Erica and Boyd's intense screaming. I wanted to be there for them, but right now I had to focus on myself. The Pack bond wouldn't help us now, it was every wolf for themselves, fighting for control.

"Find an anchor. Something meaningful to you. Bind yourself to it. Keep the human side in control," Derek explained, glancing over at me as if to make sure I was doing it. I had been, I'd been doing it all day, thinking about Erica, staying close to her, and it had helped. But now, I was feeling the real challenge. My anchor was beginning to slip, it's hold weakening as the moon tried to lift me up and away from my body, leaving it to some mindless blood thirsty beast.

I shook away those thoughts, reminding myself of Erica. Not the Erica behind me that was turning into a savage beast, but the Erica that was my sister and I used to play doctor with in our back garden, using the old cardboard boxes that dad had thrown out to make up the hospital, or spaceship or home. I remember that, those happy moments with my sister. It soothed the pull of the moon for a moment, but when I lost my concentration I felt it's pull again.

This was not as easy as Derek made it look.

"What is it for you?" I heard Isaac ask Derek.

"Anger," Derek answered. "But it doesn't have to be that for everybody," he added as he finished off Isaac's chains.

"You mean Scott?" Isaac asked intuitively which caused Derek to look back to him.

"Yeah," he answered, before adding, "And Dylan too," as he turned around to chain my free hand to the seat in front. While he did that, Isaac looked over catching my eye. It was a little harder for me to turn and face him, what with the headband on that was chained up to the poles around me, but I managed to turn a little, acknowledging him.

"What's your anchor?" he asked, trying to get a better idea of what his own one might be.

"Erica," I answered, her name making me smiling wholeheartedly back at him. Because it was the truth and it always would be. Erica was my other half, she might as well be my twin. Not because we had similar hobbies or interests or because we looked like, but because of our bond, a bond that went beyond sisterhood, after everything we'd endured together. That was what made it impossible to imagine that first year of my life without her in it. She'd always been there and always would be. Me and her verses everything else.

Silence took ahold after that, with the exception of a screaming Boyd and Erica anyway. While that was going on, Derek finished chaining up my wrist and then did a series of chains around my waist, buckling me down to the seat before he stood up and nodded to himself. "All right, that should do it."

Despite saying it though, Derek still needed to be sure. He bent down, giving a tug on Isaac's chains. I presumed he was going to do it with all of us, but when he then pulled Isaac's chains and the board it was attached too broke free, he froze. His head snapped to Isaac, then to me, and we both looked to him. The chains might be good, but this subway carriage was never going to be able to contain all four of us in this state. And that was before we started trying to break free.

"Probably should of thought of that shouldn't we?" I murmured, watching Derek's eyes fill with dread as my own began to glow, feeling the moon pulling that little bit harder. And it was only going to get worse, we probably weren't even at the apex yet.

"Gee, you think–" Isaac got out before he growled in pain, his own eyes flashing. He bit back the rest, fighting the moon like I was, searching for his anchor. I doubted it would do him any good. After all, I had my anchor and I didn't think I could hold out much longer. But if anyone lost control and got out, it wouldn't matter if I stayed in control, they'd tear me to pieces.

As if to remind me of that very real fact and danger, Erica and Boyd growled from behind. I knew then they'd given in, been unable to fight off the pull of the moon. They'd left their bodies, or been shoved to the back, watching as the feral beasts they now were looked around their enclosure, already searching for weakness – and more importantly – prey.

"This isn't going to get any better is it?" I asked rhetorically as I felt my canines begin to form, my face and hands shifting as willed by the moon. Derek looked to me, confirming what I was thinking. That didn't help me, the wolf inside seeing a chance to thrash about even more as my insecurities gave it an opening. It would get out soon, I new it would. Even with Erica in the forefront of my mind, I knew I couldn't hold the beast in for long. I wasn't that strong.

"Stay with me, Dylan," Derek said leaning over before all hell broke loose from the back. Erica and Boyd had fully shifted now, growling madly as they began to thrash around, pulling at everyone of their restraints. Across from me, Isaac was crying out, his shift more painful than usual as it was forced upon him. His claws were coming out, and he couldn't stop them. Maybe that was why it was so painful for him, because he was trying to fight it and he was losing as he spasmed a little in his seat.

I was holding on, but I could feel my anchor about to slip away, the wolf having dug it's claws into my mind. Now all it needed to do was pull me out. "Derek…" I growled out, anger filling my voice without my intention. He looked to me, and I could see the reflection of my furious, glowing amber eyes in his. I was fully shifted now too, having given in to it while trying to hold onto my mind. That was Isaac's mistake, he thought if he could stop the shift he'd be able to stay in control. But that was the next level, and by jumping to it he'd only caused himself more pain, as evidenced by his horrific howls as his body twisted and turned, fighting the shift that would inevitably win.

Looking at Derek now, I could tell he was worried. So was I, but more than anything I was hungry, hungry for the kill, the satisfaction of slitting his throat and killing him right here and now.

A random thought of Erica laughing managed to pull me back, but I knew I had seconds before I lost my grip again. "Get…out!" I growled before I yanked at my chains, trying to get at him as I growled in rage. I was trapped, unable to get to my prey as he backed away.

Glaring at my restraints, I snapped my teeth at them as if that would get them to back off. It didn't, so I began thrashing around, trying to find a weakness like the other mad wolves in the cage with me.

My growls and howls mixed in with the wolves around me, and I was suddenly reminded of the other threats in the room with me. My head swung towards Isaac and his towards me, both completely shift and out of our minds. We began snapping at each other, trying to claw at one another, but unable to because of the chains around us.

At that point Derek returned, his own claws out, but otherwise he hadn't shifted. But I didn't see my Alpha in that moment, I saw another predator, a challenge, and I lunged. The chains pulled me back, but when I lunged again my right arm got free enough to start clawing at my chains. Derek started shouting at me but I was too far gone, thoughts racing a mile a minute and in dire need of a kill. All around the clicking of metal echoed until something else snapped from behind. I wasn't the only one starting to get free.

Derek tried to get past me and Isaac but Isaac had enough wiggle room to lean over into the aisle. Derek would have been able to get around for sure, if my right arm wasn't free, currently now trying to claw at Isaac's face as he tried to bite my arm off. There was space between us, both of us unable to reach the other, but nowhere near enough room for someone the size of Derek to get through.

Even so though, he tried, waiting for an opening before jumping through. He managed to avoid Isaac who'd turned his attention to his arm restraints, but I slashed his arm, making him wince in pain as he landed behind me. I tried to claw my way towards him, having my first taste of blood – coming so close to the kill – but he was out of reach, my own arm wrapping around my neck in an idiotic attempt to grab hold of him. Not that Derek was paying any attention, he was in the middle of fight with Erica. A fight I very much wanted to be involved in.

Then I heard more metal snapping and turned to see Isaac now free. He lunged at me and I threw my claw out to meet him, scratching him across the face. It threw him back into his seat, screeching as his claws covered his face. I tried to reach over, to get another scratch in, but my restraints stopped me once more. Sick of the damn things, I turned my claws on them. Thrashing and scratching until I finally got my other arm free.

At that point Isaac lunged again, this time getting on top of me. We began tussling about on my seat as much as my remaining chains allowed us too. It gave him an advantage, as did his position on my lap, but logic had gone out the window by this point and we were both slashing away at each other. However, completely unintentionally Isaac managed to help me by chipping away at the chains around my waist, to the point the I ripped them off as I shoved Isaac out the window with a dominant roar.

"Dylan! Dylan!" It was Derek shouting my name, but all I heard was the weakness of an injured animal. I turned, the only thing holding me back now was the headband. I saw Derek, having been shoved in between two seats, with Boyd and Erica over him, clawing at him with everything they had. He needed me, and for a brief moment I saw that and I fought to get back in control, thought of Erica and how she needed me. But then I saw Erica, the Erica that was here and now. The Erica that had lost compete control and give into the full moon. The one that had shifted into the animal…and I'd done that to her.

What ever grip I had slipped away as if my fingers had been holding on to a wet cliff face – the animal in control once more. I roared, but the only one who paid me any attention was Derek who kept shouting my name. I reached up then, grabbing hold of the headband and pulling with all my might. It creaked, and then suddenly it gave way, the thing snapping in two as I throw it aside, roaring in triumph.

More shouting from Derek, and I turned to glare at him with my bright Werewolf eyes. But rather than join the dog pile, I turned, leaping out the smashed window Isaac had gone through. Why face a large prey and compete for the kill when I could find something small for myself, something outside. However, outside the subway carriage was another obstacle, though not as large as Derek. It was Isaac, at the top of the stairs, on the railing with all four limbs supporting him. From his high ground position, he looked down at me, and roared.

I roared back, accepting his challenge, and he dove off the railing, leaping towards me. I jumped up to meet him and our claws dug into one another as we came crashing down. What followed was a frantic and random series of slashes and flailing limbs as we fought. Every now and then one of us would knock the other off and jump on top, only to get forced off and for the cycle to repeat as we chased each other around the room. But this wasn't like a game of tag, this was survival, and I was going to be the one to survive.

I leapt up to the subway carriage, roaring at Isaac before he lunged up to meet me. I kicked both my legs out, using my hands for support and sent him flying back down. I heard the snap of bone and roared in victory before leaping off and slashing Isaac across the face once more. His previous scratch had healed but this one would take longer, because I got his eyes this time. Now blinded and slashing about in wild hurt, I had him. He'd never be able to beat me now, not like this.

I went low, clawing at his feet when he tried to get back up and forcing him back to the ground. He tried to get away after that but I grabbed his ankles and hauled him across the floor. He wasn't escaping me, and now all I had to do was claim my kill. With his face to the floor I got ready to slash his neck from behind. Still holding one of his ankles to keep him from scurrying off, I swung my claws down. He howled in pain as I dug them into his neck, blood sprouting out and covering my hand.

I began to drag him again, back across the room, the clatter of my feet on metal following. I got ready to turn him over, but then saw Boyd coming right towards me. I was ready to take him on, more than confident after my conquest over Isaac. But then I saw Erica at the back of the carriage, Derek chaining her up as she struggled and something flashed before my eyes. Before I could even understand it, instinct took over. But it wasn't the wolf's, it was my own. The instinct to protect her.

Unleashing a howl, and still holding Isaac by the ankle and neck, I threw him around towards Boyd. The two collided and collapsed into the seat where Isaac had originally been. I didn't give them a chance to recover, landing on top of them before pinning down the arms that threatened to claw at me.

"Dylan?" I looked up at my name, seeing Derek having stepped away from Erica who was now chained up once more, thrashing about as she tried to get free. He was looking at me, trying to judge if it was me or the wolf. I answered him.

"Could you give me a hand?" I asked through a strained voice, only just holding onto my anchor. To Erica. "These two are a lot stronger than–" I didn't get to finish, being forced from them both as Boyd, who was beneath me and Isaac, unleashed a surge of strength. I rolled off, landing on the floor with Isaac now on top of me as Boyd shot up. He swung down, ready to kill Isaac with a slash to the throat. He was still blinded, unable to see it coming so I shoved him aside, ready to take the attack when Derek shot forward and grabbed Boyd's arm and throat. He shoved him into the wall, trying to hold him, but before I could get up to assist him Boyd freed himself by slashing Derek neck. I briefly panicked, but saw him still moving and made the assumption he was alive.

Boyd, realising the Pack he was facing instead of the lone wolf, decided to make a run for it. He got past Derek but I lunged and ended up on his back, my legs and arms going around him. I dug in with my claws, holding on for dear life as he swung me about, trying to get me off him. In the end a random swing of his claws caught my arm and I lost my grip, falling towards Erica who then tried to claw at me. Thankfully she couldn't reach that far down and had to settle for kicking me which only sent me back towards Boyd.

The largest Beta roared, claws raised as he got ready to slam them down on me. I curled in on myself quickly, arms raised to block the attack but then something tackled Boyd. I lowered my arms assuming it was Derek, but he was still by the front of the carriage, hand at his neck as it finished healing. I turned towards Boyd, finding it was Isaac who had pinned him against the wall. He was like me I could tell, in control but unable to shift back.

Catching my eye, he nodded, and I nodded back before getting up. Once Derek was then healed up, he came over and finished Boyd off by knocking him out. Just to be safe he then did the same to Erica, which then resulted in me clawing at his back. He accepted my excuse of it being the full moon, but I could tell I was going to pay for that later. After that he chained Erica and Boyd once more. With as much care as he needed, making sure everything was extra secure as he tested their restraints. Then it was time for me and Isaac to be chained up again.

We might have been in control for now, but I knew that could change at a moments notice while the full moon was up. I'd done better this time than last though, the same for Isaac. Which meant after another one or two full moons, we'd be like Scott. Able to resist its pull and live our lives as normal, even when it was in the sky. It just took practise and a good anchor. And I had the best on ever in Erica.

Sat down, Isaac was in his original seat once more while Derek had moved me to the very front seat by the door of the carriage. Turns out in my thrashings about, I'd successfully unhinged both my seat and the seat in front, so it was better for me to move before Derek chained me up again. If he'd left me there and I lost control, I'd get free again for sure.

While he was restraining Isaac, I listen, my hands in my lap as I kept Erica at the forefront of my mind. "I think you'll be okay now," Derek said to Isaac, who was also sat patiently, arm held out as Derek chained him down. "Looks like you found an anchor." I was proud of him for that, just like Derek was. But what he said next did honestly confuse the hell out of me.

"My father," Isaac answered, telling us what his anchor was.

"Your father locked you in a freezer in the basement to punish you," Derek pointed out as he finished the job.

With a sad smile, Isaac simply said, "He didn't use to." Derek silently took that in, before giving a tug on Isaac's chains, making sure they were secure before leaving him to his thoughts.

Joining me at the front, Derek stopped before me, looking down. I looked up, offering what I doubted very much looked like a smile. He sighed, tired, and the night wasn't even over yet. "You busted up most of your chains, I'm going to have to get new ones out." I nodded, not particularly wanting to speak and risk breaking my concentration. I could feeling it slipping already, the moon lifting me up slowly, like weak gravity that wasn't able to keep me grounded, but able to slow my ascension into space. It was fine for now, but sooner or later I would be in a battle for control again, and I wanted to put that off for as long as possible.

Placing his hand on my shoulder, I looked up into his green eyes, again seeing the reflective light of my own. Only now it wasn't a furious amber, but more of a tranquil steady yellow glow. It was a lot nicer to look at now. "You did good tonight," he said. "Keep this up and soon I'll have taught you everything you need." I smiled at that, taking the compliment straight to my heart and using it to help fuel my anchor.

"Then we move onto the really hard stuff." I lowered my head, shaking it, feeling like it took less effort than rolling my eyes. Now he was cracking jokes. That settled it, the full moon definitely put him in a light hearted mood. When I looked back up, I caught his grin, before he stepped out of the subway carriage to get the extra chains.

But no sooner did he step off the carriage, did he stop and turn. Having been watching him, I followed his gaze to see what he was looking at and frowned when I saw Lydia stood in the lair with us. I was about to ask what she was doing here – presuming Derek didn't speak up first – when she then lifted up one of her closed fists. Once in front of her face, she opened up her hand to reveal a purple powder in her palm. My frowned deepened as she then blew the powder right into Derek's face. He seemed unfazed at first, but then dropped back, landing on the ground out cold as Lydia stared down at him.

"Lydia!" I shouted, standing as the urge to protect my Alpha took over me. Already shifted, I thought that would be enough to scare her off, but all I got was her blank stare. I climbed out the carriage, flexing my claws and ready to strike her down when I realised something. She wasn't fazed by any of this. But she had been, she'd always been fazed. She'd become the town nut case because of how freaked out she was by all this. Nothing had changed since that night with Kanima, when she'd been freaked out and hadn't even known we were all trying to kill her, and nothing had changed since that night…in the forest.

The night in the forest. That was where I recognised her blank stare from. It was the same one she'd had over her face during that night. And again she was in that same trance like state.

I thought about saying something, trying to snap her out of it without killing her then and there. I wished I had just offed her though, because if I had, I wouldn't have been bested by Lydia Martin yet again.

Lifting her other fist, she unclenched it to reveal more of the purple powder, and as I went to speak, she blew that into my face too. I should have caught on before, but it was only now I knew what it was. Wolfsbane.

I was out of it before I hit the floor, and for the rest of the night I was tormented by Lydia Martin. At ever corner she mocked me, at ever challenge she bested me. Whether she was in that creepy trance or just plain old popular Lydia, she always won.

She and her friends bullied me around school, they brought me to parties just to torment me with sick games – whether it was with spin the bottle, when they'd have me kiss their dogs, or just locking me in the closet after tricking me inside with false promises of a boy waiting to kiss me. They even held slumber parties, were they stole my cloths and locked me outside, leaving me to run home naked while everyone stood on their front lawns and laughed at me. Then back at school, she bested me in front of all the classes we didn't share, getting every answer right in math, english, science, you name it. And all while I stood in front of the room stuttering like a car engine failing to start.

It was humiliating, a nightmare, and all very familiar of a time before I became a Werewolf. Only in this hellish world I didn't become a Werewolf, I was just powerless old me. It reminded me of all the reasons why I hated Lydia, made me regret not killing her on the spot, for not giving into my urges and taking her life when I had the chance. But I hadn't, and now I was being punished for it, punished by Lydia herself, as she mocked and made fun of me. Never letting up, never tiring, just going on and on while I cried. And what made it even worse, was the fact that Erica was no where in sight. I was completely alone, abandoned by my sister, unable to talk to anyone because I now had no one. A fact that Lydia had never let me forget.


	30. Decisions that Lead Us Here (Pt 1)

We'd been in hiding for days, per Derek's orders. I could only imagine what our our parents were thinking, that was if they'd even noticed. They hadn't noticed anything else going on in our lives. The continuously late nights, the blood that stained our cloths, the fact we went days without speaking a single word to them. Most parents would have probably been worried, ours apparently didn't care. It made things easier I guess, so I shouldn't complain.

It had been after the full moon that Derek gave the order, telling us to scatter and to hide out until he called us back together. The reason for this was because Gerard – the leader of the Hunters and Allison's grandfather – now had control of the Kanima, having taken it from that Matt guy me and Erica had shared detention with. Apparently, he'd been the puppet master behind this entire thing. Thinking about that now made me more scared than ever. If it had been that deadly in the hands of a kid who had no idea what he was doing, then how strong would it be under Gerard's reign.

I'd fully agreed with Derek's decision to scatter, to hide and see how the Hunters responded. Derek had taught us how to survive, now it was time to use those skills.

I'd kept Erica with me, unable to stand the idea of going days without knowing she was okay. If we'd separated I would have thrown myself at the mercy of the Hunters just to know whether she was alive or not. At least with her at my side, what ever happened would happen to both of us.

We'd gone home together after Derek gave the order, gathering up supplies and the bare minimal of what we'd need over the next few days. Then we'd gone out into the woods, as deep as we could.

It had been tranquil at times, little moments with Erica were everything going on just slipped away. It never lasted long but it had been nice, just the two of us, alone in the woods, camping. Mostly though, it was tense, not knowing what was going on with the rest of the Pack, not knowing what the Hunters were up to and if they were coming after us or not.

It was days before Derek had howled for us. That howl had been a message, telling us to check our phones or to find him if we couldn't. Being as deep in the woods as we were, me and Erica had to venture back to town until we got a signal.

As it turned out, our parents had noticed our absence, as both mine and Erica's phones were full of missed phone calls and text messages from them. I supposed it was nice to know that they cared, but it wasn't going to change anything. Derek had made it clear to those of us with family, that getting in contact would not only put us in danger, but them as well. So I scrolled past all the texts and opened up Derek's. He'd told us to meet him at the Hale house before sun raise. That worked for us, it was on our way back to our camp site anyway. And me and Erica had come to a decision.

As a Pack we'd told Derek before we split up. He hadn't wanted to hear it then, but he would now, now that we'd had time to think. At first he'd dismissed it as the full moon, messing with our heads, but it hadn't been. I for one had been feeling that way for a while, and I suspected the others had too. I'd been warning him for a while now, trying to get him to be more honest with us, or at the very least me. Trust breads loyalty, and it was clear Derek didn't trust me or the Pack as much as he claimed.

For one thing, he was still yet to explain to me about what had happened with Lydia. I'd asked him when I saw him after. Asked him repeatedly, but he had either ignored me or told me to drop it. I couldn't stand either of those things, and thoughts of Lydia had been haunting me along with those of the Hunters. I'd had several more nightmares since we came to the woods, ones of Lydia using that same purple wolfsbane on me, and then dragging me to the Hunters, offering me up like she was a delivery girl. I had needed answers, and Derek had refused to give them to me. He hadn't even given me a reason either, thus, he'd now pushed me further away than ever before.

Well, by tomorrow he wouldn't have to push me much further. I'd be gone, along with Erica and whoever else wanted to leave.

On our way to the remains of the Hall house, we ran into Boyd who was on his way from where he'd been hiding out on his own. It was nice to see him again after all this time, so much so that we spared a moment for a group hug before continuing on. It was comforting to have him with us again, and I could feel myself getting stronger and more confident with his mere presence. Being in a Pack definitely made us stronger, but with it just being us three, I realised that maybe an Alpha wasn't as necessary as Derek might have claimed. Perhaps it could work with just a group of Betas, at least for a time.

As we walked, we talked, and it became apparent that Boyd had come to the same decision as us. That brought on a new decision about where we should all go, since we seemed to be in silent agreement that if we left, we'd be leaving together. But then midway through the conversation, Boyd stopped. It had taken me several steps to realise, same for Erica. So when we stopped, we both turned around to frown at him. "I thought I heard something," he said.

We stood there, in the dark woods, listening for a moment. I used my senses, the tracker training that Derek had been grinding into my head. I picked up many scents and smells and signs of life, but nothing that could cause us any damage or pain. The biggest and most harmful thing out here right now was a deer, and it was a good mile North-West of us. "There's nothing out here," I said before turning, ready to continue on.

"Derek told us to be back before sun up," I then added with authority. We may be leaving, but for now we were still in Derek's Pack and I was still his second – for whatever that was worth. But before I could get far, Boyd ran up behind me and grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

"I'm telling you, I heard something," he insisted, and I could tell by the look in his eye he really thought he'd heard something.

"Look, if we're gonna do that whole, 'I thought I heard something' thing, then we shouldn't be stopping. We should be running," argued Erica as she walked over to us, feeling the safety of numbers. I could hear it in her voice too, her voice going from timid and scared, to insistent and angry the closer she got.

"No, just listen," Boyd pressed, grabbing Erica's arm too. I was about ready to pull away from his grip and tell him to shut up and walk when I heard it. A lone howl in the night.

"Coyote?" Erica asked as she looked around, before looking back to me and Boyd. "Wolf?"

"No, it can't be. There are no wolves in California," Boyd said confidently. Though he was still looking around uneasily.

"No, but there are Werewolves," Erica and I pointed out in unison, which only freaked us out more all the more.

"That didn't sound like Derek," Boyd then said, once the freakiness of me and Erica speaking in unison passed.

"Maybe it was," Erica said with an unsure shrug, but I was all ready shaking my head.

"No, that definitely wasn't Derek," I contradicted.

"So then who the hell is it?' Erica asked urgently. "Another Werewolf?" Just then several more howls began to echo around us, each coming from a different location. I could for certain pick out three, but it could have easily been five or maybe even more than that. It was another Pack, and they were passing through Beacon Hills.

There was never going to be a better time to do this, so once the howling passed, I got Erica and Boyd to move. They obviously had questions, but I didn't have answers, at least not yet, and I certainly had plenty of my own. But we still needed to get to Derek's. We could catch up to this new Pack later. Besides, in a large group they wouldn't travel as far, giving us – the smaller group – a chance to catch up if they did leave before our business with Derek was concluded.

We ended up arriving at the Hale house just as the sun was rising, and when we entered we found Derek inside the remains of the former living room, rummaging through stacks of books. He continued on for a second before stopping, as his head lifted. He'd realised we were here. "You've decided," he said knowingly as he turned around to face us, all three of us stood in the large door way. Me in the middle with Erica and Boyd on either side. None of us particularly happy about the decision we'd come too. However, it was better than the alternative.

"When?" Derek asked.

"Tonight," Erica answered. I cursed at myself for not being the one to say. I was the oldest, I was Derek's second, if we were leaving it should have been me to speak up, but I hadn't. Instead I remained silent from in between my sister and my friend, while they did all the talking. Staring dead ahead at Derek with what I imagined was a dazed look in my eye, I let the moment pass by, like it was a wave and I was just sitting under the surface of the water.

"Everyone's gonna be at the game," Boyd explained. "We figured it was the best time."

"It's not like we want to," Erica added mournfully.

"What do you want?" Derek asked Erica point blank, as he took a step towards us.

Erica shied away at first, but then looked back up with an uneasy smile. It wasn't the way she should have been looking at her Alpha, but then again, we weren't really his Betas anymore. Not in our hearts anyway. "Since I just turned sixteen a couple months ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license. I can't do that if I'm dead, you know," she answered sadly.

"Well, I told you there was a price," Derek responded, as if that justified everything that had happened. In his head it might of, his warning about the Hunters and the full moon. That was what he'd told us. He hadn't told us he was a new Alpha, hadn't told us about the possibility of other things out there, that his bite might turn us into the something like the Kanima. But out of all of those, the lie that irritated me the most was his facade, the one he'd put on for all of us when he'd offered us the bite. The charming charismatic man who made us believe. He'd never been that man, or that Alpha.

Whatever he was, he wasn't our Alpha anymore.

"You're a bad Alpha, you know that?" I asked, edge to my voice as Derek's gaze honed in on me.

"Excuse me?" Derek growled, advancing. I matched his step forward with my own. I wasn't backing down this time, he needed to hear this for his own good.

"I told you that before, remember. After Erica's seizure, the ones you said she'd never have to go through again," I said, voice scarily calm, like before a storm.

"I hadn't known then–"

"It's surprising how little you actually know, considering your meant to be our Alpha," I cut in sharply. "Everyone knows more than you. The Argents. Scott. Heck even Stiles – who's using frick'n google – knows more than you!"

"I'm still your Alpha," Derek growled, eyes flashing red as he stepped into my personal space. "And you will respect me." His voice deepened, but I wasn't deterred by it anymore. I wasn't his Beta, and he was not my Alpha. He had no power over me other than the physical.

"No, Derek, you're not! Not anymore," I shouted, before my voice then dipped as the realisation passed over his face. I did feel sorry for him then, seeing the hurt in his eyes, but I couldn't cave in. I had to do what was best and this was the best decision. Even if it wasn't for him.

He stepped back, turning away briefly as he ran his hand across his jaw. Then he turned back around, eyes back to normal and gaze set on all of us, not just me. "You need me, you need the strength of an Alpha. Without one you can't even call yourself a Pack."

"We know," Boyd spoke up.

"So what, you're gonna look for another? How are you even gonna find one?" Derek shouted, trying to get us to see his way. But he couldn't make us see his way anymore, not without being our Alpha. And we'd rejected him now.

"We think we all ready did," Boyd answered.

"What?" Derek exclaimed, unable to believe us.

"We heard other Werewolves when we were out in the forest," I answered for him, arms folded as I met his gaze, taking it all so the others could speak more freely.

"It was unbelievable," Erica said, sounding a little giddy. "First we heard this one howl – we thought it might have been you. And then suddenly, like, seven or eight others started howling too, all around us."

"It could have easily been a dozen of them," Boyd added, just as eagerly.

"Yeah, or maybe only two," Derek cut in condescendingly, the way he usually did with us. And then followed the lecture… "You know what the Beau Geste effect is? If they modulate their howls with a rapid shift in tone, two wolves can sound like twenty."

"Even if you're right–" I began before he cut me off.

"I am right."

Apparently he just had to get that in there. "There has to be other Packs out there. You can't expect us to believe you're the only Alpha in the world?" His silence answered my question for me. And then in a moment of petty I stepped towards him, bringing his gaze solely on me.

"I'm sorry about calling you a bad Alpha, Derek. But look at this from our perspective. You show up all charm and mysterious, offering us this gift and then when we take it you turn into this." I gave him a look up and down to help my point. "You're not a seasoned Alpha, your new. You didn't even have a Pack before you made us. That means you were an Omega. And just like you told us, one can raise and fall between the three."

"Are you saying you would have taken the bite from me like this?" Derek snapped, as if accusing me of being in the wrong.

"I don't know, and we never will. But I am grateful that I did take it Derek. You've helped me and my sister come out of our shells, you've given us friends in Boyd and Isaac. It's just a shame you couldn't be one of them." He frowned at me, as if not understanding.

"That's your problem, Derek. You might be an Alpha, but your not a leader. A good leader doesn't tell his men to shut up. He doesn't shoot down their opinions or suggestions, he doesn't go looking for fights before they're ready to fight and he doesn't lie. He's open and honest with his men, he befriends them and earns their trust, the trust they need to lead. But you don't have that, Derek. You don't have our trust or our friendship. And if you really wanted it you'd come with us. But as far as you're concerned it's either your way or no way. That's a dictator, Derek, not a leader."

I back away then, sorrow in my eyes as I looked into his haunted green ones. It wasn't until I was back in line with Erica and Boyd, that I spoke again. "I am grateful, Derek. I truly am, for everything. And if it was just me I'd stay with you. But I have to look out for Erica, I have to protect her. And we clearly aren't safe here anymore," as I said that, I took Erica's hand, feeling her squeeze back, knowing that she felt the same way.

Erica then gave a firm nod, and added, "We've made up our minds."

"Yeah, we lost, Derek. And it's over. We're leaving," Boyd then said, equally sorry as me, but still wanting to live, just like I wanted Erica to.

Derek started shaking his head at us, smiling crazily as if knowing he was right. He was losing it, going in insane with either the power or the prospect of being alone. Or maybe it was just because of the continual losing. That had certainly taken a toll on me, after all, it was partly why we were leaving.

"No," Derek said, before pointing an accusing book at us. "No, you're running. And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running," he said, as if we were beneath him now, because he was choosing to stay, and fight, and die. Instead of choosing his friends and to live and fight another day. Further evidence he wasn't the Alpha I'd originally thought him to be. But I'd stuck with him long enough now, given him a chance to improve and now it had come down to two choices. Us, or himself. He'd chosen himself. That was the kind of Alpha he apparently was.

I shed a tear for the Alpha he might have been, the one I thought him to be. And then I shed another for him, hoping he would survive impossible odds. Despite everything I didn't want him to die. But this was no longer my fight. So I turned, taking Boyd's hand too before I pulled, and my fellow Betas naturally fell into a run beside me as we fled the Hale house.

We returned to the campsite me and Erica had set up, spending the day there as we checked over our supplies. It was enough to last a couple more days if we rationed it and it was all moveable if we decided to leave Beacon Hills and follow the Pack we'd heard. We didn't know for sure they had left yet, but we hadn't heard anything else since last night, or picked up any scents either.

It was too risky to look for them during the day, so we would do so at night. If we found no trace of them, we'd leave Beacon Hills and search for another Pack. One thing was for sure, we couldn't afford to stay in this town any longer.

The day was long, most of it waiting and sitting around until the sun to set. It was one of the longest of my life. But the sun did set, by which point we were all packed and ready to go. We began our search by heading back to where we'd originally heard the howls. Then after a discussion about which howl had been the closest, we headed off in the direction we believed to have heard it from, hoping to find something that would lead us to this new Pack.

In the end we didn't find anything, but we did hear more howling, and this time it was just a few wolves together. Two was our guess, which made for an ideal meeting. Presuming they were with the Pack, it wouldn't be as intimidating as going up to the all of them at once, and we wouldn't come across as threatening when three of us jumped one lone member. So we took off towards those howls with excitement and hope in our run.

That vanished though when we heard the sound of engines charging through the forest. I came to an abrupt stop, Erica and Boyd skidding aside to avoid crashing into me. I looked around, taking in the sound as they asked what was going on. Then I saw lights in the distance, coming towards us. They bobbed up and down, something fast going over the bumpy terrain. And there was only one group of people that would be out here in the night going at that speed. Hunters.

"Get down!" I hissed at Erica and Boyd before grabbing Erica's wrist and pulling her towards the base of a tree. With our backs pressed to it, I found Boyd on my other side having joined us, all of us squeezing in between the roots as we held out breath.

The Hunters approached on ATVs, which came to a stop right on the other side of the tree we were against. Erica looked as if she were about to cry, so I pulled her against me, hoping to muffle her tears if she did start to cry. "Play it again," I heard one Hunter say, then a second later came the howls we'd heard.

I felt like such an idiot, falling for what was probably a basic Hunter trick. Recordings of Werewolf howls. I should have known, should have recognised something wasn't right, but in leaving Derek I had been eager to find a new Pack for Erica and Boyd, and in so doing I'd fallen right into their trap.

When the howling passed, the Hunters continued on, engines reeving as they drove off into the forest. A second later I felt Boyd's hand slid into mine. I was still holding Erica against me, but I turned to see how scared he was. He was just as scared as Erica, which meant I was going to have to be the honorary Alpha of our little group.

"It's going to be okay. They don't know we're here yet. All we have to do is get out of the woods and get out of Beacon Hills," I said reassuringly as I squeezed Boyd's hand and tightened my hold on Erica. "I promise you, I'll get us out of here."

"So sweet," came a voice that I recognised but have never heard using that tone before. We all turned, finding Allison, a dark smirk on her face as she aimed her bow at us, arrow loaded. "But I'm not about to let you murderers get away."

"We didn't murderer anyone," Boyd said cautiously, not wanting to provoke the young Hunter, who'd apparently abandoned her former position on the fence.

"Tell it to someone who cares," growled Allison before firing her arrow. I dove into Boyd, knocking him down as the arrow pierced the tree trunk sending splinters of bark flying out around us.

With a huff, Allison reached for another arrow, but by the time she'd loaded it we were already running. I glanced back, watching as another arrow came towards my head. At the last second I managed to throw myself into a tree, dodging the arrow as it wizzed by ahead of us, lost in the darkness. I pressed off and continued running, shouting at Erica and Boyd to do the same since they were ahead of me.

A whistle sounded from behind us, and then I heard the ATVs coming back around. Before long they'd caught up to us, their bright lights on our backs as two of them chased us. From up ahead I could hear Erica shouting at me to run faster. I honestly could have, but I wanted to be the one at the back, I wanted to be their first target instead of her or Boyd. So I stayed behind while Boyd ran just ahead of me. He might be the strongest Beta I know, but he's also definitely the slowest too.

We finally got ahead of them when we jumped through some closely gathered trees, allowing us to run straight while the Hunters had to go around. Our progress was then aided further by a dip in the ground that caught the front wheels of both ATVs. They could get out, but it'd take time and they'd never catch us with out them. It finally seemed like we might actually lose them, as we ran out across an open area.

But then an arrow hit my leg from behind and I went down. I looked back at it, finding the slick arrow firmly embedded in me, blood ruining my jeans. That was the least of my worries, because I could hear the Hunters coming on foot, and with this arrow in me I'd never out run them. Even if I removed it, by the time it healed they'd be on me, and I already knew I wouldn't be walking, never mind running with this wound.

I looked ahead, seeing Erica screaming at me as she tried to get back while Boyd held her. "Go!" I shouted at them, ripping the arrow from my leg as my face contorted in pain. "Go, I'm right behind you!" A lie, but one I had to tell in order to protect them both.

"Dylan!" Erica cried out.

"Just go!" I cried out, feeling my own tears begin to mirror Erica's. "Boyd! Get her out of here!" He hesitated but in the end did as told, grabbing Erica who fought against him as he ran off into the forest ahead. I had never been more grateful to anyone in my entire life. I didn't care what happened to me, just so long as Erica got away, and Boyd would make sure of that. I trusted him.

So sniffing back the tears, and wiping my eyes, I rolled over, giving my injury a chance to heal as I saw Allison emerge from behind me. She walked from the woods, bow already loaded, the mist giving her an edge of danger. But more than that, I could see her eyes – cold, nothing like they were before. Something had happened, I didn't know what but something had changed her from that girl and into this. I found it ironic that she'd called us murderers, because from where I was sitting, watching her advance towards me through the thin layer of mist – she looked like more of a murderer than me.

"Done running?" she mocked, drawing back her bow.

"From you?" I shot back, arching my brow. "Why would I need to run?" I saw the irritation flash over her face, before she let the arrow fly at me. It slammed into my shoulder knocking me onto my back as my hand shot to my pain consumed shoulder.

"That's why," Allison snapped, before taking a breather to load another arrow. "Now," she then said, tone more calm and dark. "Let's have some fun." She fired her next arrow, this one hitting me in the stomach, forcing blood up into my mouth. She smirked at my pain. "Come on, Dylan. Where's the girl that was going to steal my boyfriend?" Allison asked mockingly, loading another arrow. "The one who was going to kill me, a Hunter?"

The third arrow hit my other arm, bring out a scream of pain before I bit down on my lip, refusing to give her the satisfaction. Though she seemed to already have it by her grin.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, pushing myself up so that I could face her without being on my back. I was breathing heavily, battling through the pain and trying not to show how much it hurt. Because as long as I had her attention she wouldn't go after Erica and Boyd. I just needed to stall her long enough for them to get away. If talking to her and taking arrows did that, then I'd play along.

"To be honest, I kinda wondered why Derek never had us kill all of you. Sure would've made things easier for us. But then I realised, that would make us the monsters you think we are."

"You are monsters," Allison snapped. "And murderers."

"Even Scott?" I asked.

She didn't answer, didn't even flinch, didn't react in anyway. And that really did scare me. How cold and detached was she now?

My thoughts suddenly switching, I let out a chuckle that was swiftly cut off by the pain of the arrows already inside of me. "What's so funny?" Allison asked, almost sounding curious.

"Scott, of all things," I admitted with a weak smile towards his girlfriend. "You know I wanted to kill the Kanima – or rather Jackson. After what it did to Erica, I was so sure that was the right thing to do. I wanted to be what you think we are, all to protect her.

"And then Scott asked me not to, he convinced me not to because he cared about Jackson. He cared about all of you…and yet, even though we were fighting him, he still cared about us too."

I lowered my head, too tired suddenly to hold it up. "I don't know why, but I listened to him. I didn't kill Jackson even though I had the chance. And all because he actually cared about me and my sister, because he didn't want us to get hurt."

"If you think bringing Scott up is going to make me stop, your wrong," Allison said, voice shaking just enough to give away the game. I grinned, lifting my head back up with renewed strength.

"I'm not bringing him up to stop you. I'm bringing him up because I only now realise how good he was to me, to all of my Pack, even when were we fighting him and trying to kill people. He never gave up on us, he always cared." I met Allison's eye.

"Kinda makes me wonder how he fell for a girl like you."

I saw the twitch in her eye, and I knew I'd gotten to her, I'd managed to get one last shot in at her. That made me grin.

Until I heard Erica scream from behind me. I swung around, finding her running back towards me with Boyd racing after her. Tears flying from her eyes. "No," I heard myself whisper, before an arrow shot by me, hitting Erica in the leg and taking her down. "NO!" I cried out, turning around just in time to see Allison shoot another arrow, this time taking down Boyd. "Leave them along, just let them go, you have me!"

Now it was Allison's turn to grin. "But I want all of you," she said coldly before loading another arrow. "And I've still got more arrows to use."

"NO!" I shouted again as she fired another arrow. It wasn't aimed at me though, but at Erica instead. Like me, Allison hit her in the shoulder and sent her into a cry of pain. Boyd shortly followed, shot in the stomach as he tried to make his way over to Erica, to protect her. Why couldn't they have just run?!

"Stop it, Allison!" I shouted at her.

She only looked at me with those hallow brown eyes and smirked, not even looking as she fired another arrow into Erica. Then another, and another, each one making both me and Erica scream louder. Allison just ignored us, happy with her work as she fired another arrow. But this one didn't go into Erica, this time it went into me – despite the fact Allison had been aiming for my sister.

My. Sister.

I was on my feet now, having moved without any realisation myself. My head was lowered, but it soon rose, revealing my glowing furious eyes, burning with a passion to battle Allison's cold glare. "I won't let you hurt them anymore!" I growled, roaring as I felt the shift take over, this time on purpose.

Allison didn't seem to care, firing another arrow at me in the chest. I took it, still standing as I spread myself so I could protect my Pack. Another arrow hit me, then another, and another. But still I stood, taking them all as Allison fired with cold hard precision, never wavering not once. But then, neither did I. Not while I was defending my Pack, my Sister. Not ever.

Arrow after arrow hit me but still I didn't go down. And when Allison tried to fire around me and hit Boyd or Erica, I used my limbs to take the hits. I saw it was irritating her, but I was going to protect them both with my life. I'd made that decision now. Once it would have only been Erica, once I didn't have the strength. But now I did, I had the strength to face anything, even hell like this, just so long as I was protecting the people I loved – and I now realised, that no longer just included Erica.

"Please, Allison, stop!" Erica cried out from the behind me.

"She's had enough!" added Boyd.

"We're done fighting, we'll do what you want just stop!" Erica pleaded as Allison fired three more arrows into me. I was like a porcupine, arrows covering the front of me. I was honestly amazed I hadn't died yet, or at the very least passed out. But my will wouldn't let me, not while Allison still had arrows and my loved ones were in danger. I would see this through.

Down to her last few arrow, Allison loaded it in, taking aim before a gun shot rang out. I thought that would have been it, me dead, but instead I saw Allison's bow hit the ground, having been shot in two. I looked over along with Allison, seeing her father, Chris, pointing a gun at her. However when I laughed, that gun turned on me, as did Allison's glare.

I took a step forward, still laughing even though I knew I only had one more step in me after that. And then I heard myself say something I thought I'd never say, and I have no idea why I said it, but I did. Maybe it was my instincts, something primal inside me that knew something was wrong. Or maybe it was just me, knowing what I'd done and feeling guilty as I said, "Allison…I'm sorry…"

It turned out I was wrong. I didn't have another step in me. Because before I could take it, my remaining will power left me, and I went down.


	31. Decisions that Lead Us Here (Pt 2)

After Allison turned me into in own personal archery target, I awoke in a dark, gloomy basement. And if that hadn't sounded creepy enough to begin with, I was also hanging from the ceiling by my wrists, suspending just above the floor. There were live wires tied around my wrists, running up my body and sending an electric current through me, which kept my body spasming every odd second. A piece of duct tape had been slapped across my mouth as well, preventing me from screaming whenever I was shocked.

Initially when I awoke, I started to struggle against my restraints, tried to shift and cut myself free, but I couldn't. And with each jolt of electricity I felt my strength vanish, only reemerging for less than a second before it vanished again. I'd been crying too, the pain having gotten to me even when I was unconscious apparently. Or maybe it had been because of Erica and Boyd.

When I started struggling I noticed they were alongside me – Erica strung up between me and Boyd. Both hung up in the exact same way as me. Boyd was keeping it together, even though I could see how terrified he was from his eyes. Erica was in tears, mumbling against her duct tape as she tried to talk to me. I had no idea what she was saying, but I knew I had to comfort her, to reassure her that everything would be okay. But I couldn't even do that. I couldn't hold her because of my restraints, and I couldn't talk to her because of my own gag. All we could do was mumble at one another and have a conversation that somehow we managed to understand.

Are you all right?

No. You?

No.

How are we going to get out of here?

I don't know.

That was the gist of what we were saying, although I think we might have both been making up what the other was saying in our heads. Still if it brought Erica even a the tiniest bit of comfort, I'd take it for now.

We were in darkness for a long while, left alone and scared with only each other for company. I hadn't seen any Hunters since I awoke, not even Allison – who I'd been expecting to be right there, ready to torture me for her own kicks. I still didn't understand why I'd apologised to her? And I couldn't ask Erica or Boyd if any Hunters had been down since they had woke up. All I could do was fight futilely against my restraints until finally the door at the top of the stairs opened.

Our heads turned as one, each of us stopping in what we were doing. Me in struggling, Erica in crying, and Boyd in mumbling. We all hung there, watching the light that had filled the room, before a grumbling voice that we knew too well came from the top.

A series of 'ows' followed before Stiles was shoved down the remaining stairs and into the basement where he hit the floor face first. Once he had, the door above closed and we were left in darkness again. Our eyes adjusted quickly enough, but Stiles' took longer, only able to hear our mumbles and tears without actually seeing us. But then once he was up on his feet, and looking right at us, he figured it out.

With his hand whacking the wall randomly until he found the light switch, he continued to stare as light filled the room and his eyes widened while his mouth dropped. Staring in horror as he saw all three of us tied up, with tear stained faces and terrified eyes. "What the hell…?" Stiles murmured as he stepped towards us. "What are they doing to you?" Stiles asked us all, though he was stood in front of Erica and looking solely into her sad, sad eyes.

"Doesn't matter," Stiles then said, shaking his head with an odd determination in his voice. "I'm getting you guys out of these." Instantly Erica started mumbling at him, shaking her head as she tried to warn him off. Stiles didn't seem to understand, instead shushing her as he reached up for the wires around her wrists. Of course, the second he touched them he got an electric shock, which then hit Erica as well as she swung about from her restraints.

I would have started to shout at him then, even if I had been gaged, had it not been for the voice that spoke up next.

"They were trying to warn you, it's electrified," Gerard said as he came down the stairs and into the basement, hitting us all with yet another cold Argent glare. Allison's had given me shivers, but this old man's…his shook me straight to the core.

"What are you doing with them?" Stiles demanded with a strange amount of bravery that I would never have associated with him. And he didn't even waver before the old man, not like we Werewolves were at the moment. All three of us fighting the urge to wet ourselves as we came face to face with the leader of the Hunters – though part of that was due to the electricity.

As Gerard stepped off the last step, he made himself comfy against the wall, folding his arms as he stared at us. "At the moment, just keeping them comfortable," Gerard answered Stiles. "There's no point in torturing them, they won't give up Derek. The instinct to protect their Alpha is too strong." If I could have, I might have pointed out that we no longer saw Derek as our Alpha. But I could only seen myself doing that if they were to let Erica go at least, Boyd too. I'd do anything to protect them right now.

"Okay…so what are you doing with me?" Stiles asked slowly, as if knowing he wasn't going to like the answer. But then rather than letting Gerard answer, Stiles did what Stiles always did. Stiles kept on talking. "Because Scott can find me, all right. He knows my scent. It's pungent, you know? It's more like a stench. He could find me even if I was buried at the bottom of a sewer covered in focal matter and urine." If he kept talking like this I was going to need someone to remove this gag before I threw up in my mouth.

"You have a knack for creating a vivid picture, Mr. Stilinski," Gerard complimented him, to which I had to agree. "Let me paint one of my own," he then said, raising a finger before he stepped towards Stiles, who had no where to go except back into us. Then, in a darker tone, Gerard described his picture to us all. "Scott McCall finds his best friend bloodied and beaten to a pulp. How does that sound?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Stiles responded in a way only Stiles could in a situation like this. "I think I might prefer more of a still life or landscape, you know?" He then stopped talking, realising how dark Gerard's look was, and that he was staring very intensely at him. Stiles quickly seemed to grasp the situation. I wanted to warn him, for Erica's sake more than anything, but I couldn't. I didn't even mumble though, to afraid of what Gerard might do to us for interfering.

"What are you, ninety? Look, I can probably kick your ass up and down this room–" Gerard didn't let him finish, slapping him clean across the face and sending him to the floor, during which all three of us grimaced as we turned away. The sound of the slap had been more than enough to tell us how hard Stiles had been hit.

When I then looked back, Gerard was knelt down over Stiles. One hand holding the front of his lacrosse jersey while the other was clenched into a fist. Stiles mumbled out some warnings but Gerard ignored them, as he started pounding his fist into Stiles face. With each punch I had to look away again, grimacing every time I heard the impact. For a Werewolf it would have been all right. It would have hurt like hell but we would have healed. Stiles, however, didn't have our abilities, and was defenceless against the strength Gerard had accumulated over the years.

Boyd did the same as me, looking away each time Gerard's fist collided with Stiles. Erica however, started screaming from behind her gag, thrashing about against her restraints as she was forced to watch her crush suffer. Finally she'd had enough, and did something completely and utterly stupid. I couldn't have stopped her though, even if I'd been able to, doing so wouldn't have been an option. She swung out with her bonded legs, kicking Gerard in the back and forcing him to stumble away from Stiles – who was now covered in blood with black and blue patches of skin all over. And Gerard had only just started hitting him as well.

My gaze then went to Gerard, and I saw the kind of thing I imagined Isaac saw in his father. A look of pure hatred and anger.

Pushing himself back up, Gerard brushed himself off as he marched towards Erica. "You should learn to pick your battles," growled Gerard, before he slammed his fist into Erica's stomach, causing her to cry out once more form behind her gag, her eyes widening in pain as further tears fell from her eyes.

That was when I started thrashing around, trying to get at him, as he pounded into my sister. I screamed as loud as I could but he was lost in his anger, punching Erica just as he had with Stiles, showing no remorse towards the thing he hated the most.

"Stop it… Stop it… Leave her alone! Aren't you supposed to be beating me up! Isn't that the whole point!" Stiles shouted from the floor, trying to get Gerard's attention, but he was lost in the moment, like a boxer as he threw punch after punch at Erica who was in clear agony.

Finally I managed to swing my legs in such a way that I got his attention, kicking him in the side before he then threw a punch at my face. Blood burst from my nose, a wave of pain shortly following as I screamed in silence. Another punch to my gut had me winded, unable to scream or mumble any further as I struggled to breath. Then he went back to Erica, and all I could do was cry, unable to do anything more.

I'd failed her, failed her so many times. All the decisions I'd made; accepting the bite from Derek, getting him to give it to her, the decision to become who we were now…it had all been for nothing. All I'd done was turn the psychological bullying into this. And honestly, I was struggling to tell which was worse. But in either scenario, I had to watch Erica suffer, and it was killing me inside. Killing me to be so powerless yet again.

All I could do was cry, cry silently as I watched Erica take punch after punch, just like I'd taken those arrows. I would have taken a thousand more to spare her from all this, to give her a life were she didn't have to suffer. Life hadn't been fair to us, but when I'd chosen to become a Werewolf, I'd brought this upon her. When I'd wanted revenge against Lydia, I'd brought her wrath upon the Pack. And in going after Allison and her boyfriend, I'd caused her to turn into a cold heartless Hunter. Every decision I'd made had lead me and Erica here, and I couldn't help but feel guilty, wishing I could get one thing right, just for her.

Then maybe, I got my wish, as Stiles grabbed Gerard from behind, pulling him away from Erica before he could get another punch in. "Leave her alone!" he shouted, ready to throw a punch of his own, until Gerard got one in first.

Practically foaming at the mouth now, Gerard kicked Stiles legs out form under him, before bending down to resume the job he'd started before. He went back to beating Stiles.

Regretfully I couldn't step in, nor could Erica. She wanted to, I could feel it, but she hadn't the strength and neither did I. And yet Stiles had stepped in to protect us, to protect Erica. He cared enough to put himself between her and Gerard. That might be the one good thing that had come out of all of this. Was it worth it? I couldn't answer that, only Erica could, if this ever ended.

The pummelling did eventually stop, but only once Stiles was unconscious. After that Gerard got two Hunter to take him upstairs, and that was the last we saw of Stiles, before Gerard turned up the electricity, knocking us all out with one turn of the dial.

In my dreams I relived the nightmares of Lydia. As in the previous dreams I'd been having recently, she was working with the Hunters, though namely Allison. Both of them hunting me, capturing me, torturing me. I'd be minding my own business in school and then they'd appear, marching doing the hallway towards me in full hunting gear. I'd turn to run but they'd hit me with arrows and I'd go down. I'd cry out for help, but everyone would either ignore me or just laugh along with Allison and Lydia. Then they'd use wolfsbane on me, weaken me and then drag me away – to watch while they did the same thing to Erica.

That happened over and over, only broken up by a change of sincere. Sometimes they'd chase me around the woods, turn me into a wounded animal as they shot me in the leg, then mock me as I limped away – both of them keeping pace as they simply walked behind me. Other times we were in Derek's lair, and Lydia would appear out of nowhere. A dozen clones or more, all of them restraining the entire Pack with sudden supernatural strength. Then they'd make me watch as they used their purple wolfsbane on us, on by one. After that I'd be transported into a dark room, one with just me and Allison. She'd hurt me, use me for target practise – whether it was with knifes or arrows – and then she'd drag in Erica and murderer her right in front of me. I'd scream, and then I'd be in the hallway, or the forest, or even the lair again. I'd see Erica smiling, and beg for her and the Pack to run, before the cycle repeated.

Thankfully the nightmares did end, but when I awoke I was still in that basement, still in the grim reality of the Hunters' prison. Only this time it wasn't Gerard himself who was stood in the basement with us, it was his son, Allison's father. Chris Argent.

"You know, my family's done this for a long time," Chris began to explain, hand hovering over the generator that control the electricity. He must have only just lowered it enough to wake us up. I glance over, seeing Erica and Boyd were awake too before I looked back to Chris as he continued to talk.

"Long enough to learn things like how a certain level of electric current can keep you from transforming. At another level, you can't heal." That explained the pain I was still feeling in both my nose and stomach, bruised from Gerard's punch. Also why my sister was more black and blue than pale white. "A few amps higher, and no heightened strength. Another step up, and it'll keep you in a suspended unconsciousness state, until eventually your heart just gives out." I wondered how close we'd been to that, how long we'd been out before he came to wake us up. "That kind of scientific accuracy – it makes you wonder where the line between the natural, and the supernatural, really exists."

Chris's head lowered, hand still on the dial, staring at it with something very close to guilt on his face. "It's when lines like that blur…you sometimes find yourself surprised by which side you end up on." He looked up to us, genuine sorrow in his expression. But then he looked back down, hand ready to turn the generator back up.

The three of us closed our eyes, waiting for the intensified shock when suddenly the generator cut out. My eyes shot open, seeing Chris having turned off the generator. He said nothing more after that, merely looked me in the eye, and then turned and left.

It was only a few minutes after he left, I realised what he'd been tell us. About the electric current and what it could do to our bodies as Werewolves. But there wasn't an electric current anymore, and already my supernatural powers were coming back. I could hear again, hear throughout the house and I knew there was no one inside. It was just us in the house, unguarded, with our restraints loosened enough for us to escape.

If I ever saw Allison's dad again – which I honestly hoped I didn't – I'd have to thank him. Because he'd given me a chance to save them to save Erica and Boyd. And I wasn't going to waste it.

Groaning in effort I forced on my anger, using it like Derek had taught me, using it to shift. I still wasn't great at it, but I'd done it once tonight and I'd do it again. I had to, there was no other decision to be made, I was going to free myself and Erica and Boyd.

Finally I felt the shift, complete and whole as my body transformed. My claws elongating, as I pulled with all of my strength and severed the cables and straps around my wrists.

I collapsed onto the floor but I didn't care, I was free, and that was enough to make me smile, while Boyd and Erica swung about, mumbling to try and get my attention. They had nothing to worry about, I was never going to leave them, or maybe they were just overjoyed because they already knew that.

With no time to waste I got back up to my feet, cutting them both down and ripping off the duct tape over their mouths. We then idiotically took a moment to group hug, but we needed it. And from that hug alone I felt myself begin to heal. By the time I'd pulled away in fact, Erica's face was less bruised and looking more like her natural self again.

I wanted to make sure she was okay after everything that had just happened – make sure she wasn't too hurt physically, or psychologically after watching Stiles get beaten to an inch of his life by Gerard. And she still had no idea what had happened to him either, none of us did. How much had we all missed? But more importantly than all of that, was getting Eric and Boyd to safety. So we ran outside and took off into the woods, the safest place for now, our own territory.

We ran for as long as we could, pushing ourselves until finally Boyd called out to us from behind. He'd been lagging the whole way, but now he was well and truly falling behind. I stopped, Erica with me, as we let Boyd catch up before he threw his body over, hands going to his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Sorry. I just – I just need to catch my breath."

"It's all right," I reassured him as he moved to lean against a tree. "We should be far enough away now. And I don't hear anyone following us. No scents either."

"What are we going to do now?" Erica asked, breathing just as heavily as Boyd. I wasn't in much better shape either, exhausted after everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Us leaving the Pack, getting captured and tortured by the Argents, before finally escaping. I'd had more than enough drama for a week, but we still needed to get to safety.

"We're going to find Derek and Scott," I declared. Both looked to me as if about to argue my point, when we all heard a branch snap and turned to see a woman standing just a few meters away from us. She was older than us, though probably not as old as Derek was. Attractive, tanned skin that wasn't given justice in the moonlight and forest shadows. Long wavy black hair and dark coloured eyes that seemed to be alight at the moment.

She was dressed casually, jeans and a short light sparkly t-shirt, loosely wrapped silk scarf around her neck, held in place by the locks of her hair, running down either side of her shoulders. Around her right wrist was a series of thin red bracelets that all dropped towards her hand, dangling by her side. Her other hand was on her waist, a tattoo of some kind on it, but hard to make out in the light and from the way she was standing.

She was not someone you would expect to find in the forest at this time of night. But what shocked me more was the fact that I'd had no idea she was there until right now, when she'd broken the branch. I hand't heard her when listening for Argents and I hadn't smelt her when I was checking for scents.

"That wouldn't happen to be Derek Hale and Scott McCall, now would it?" the mysterious woman asked, lifting her chin as she studied us.

"Why? You know them?" Boyd asked, still hunched over, though more alert now.

As for Erica, she'd moved closer to me, her arms going around one of mine as I moved forward to place myself between her and this intruder. "And more importantly who are you?" I asked.

She smiled. "We'll get to that."

Another twig snapped and we turned, finding two more figures coming out of the forest towards us. I sniffed to try and catch their scents and suddenly realised we were surrounded…by Werewolves.

A snort rang out and Boyd jumped towards us, as a black wolf with red eyes approached the tree he'd been leaning against. Now huddled together in a group, we watched as this red eyed wolf sat himself down by the base of the tree, folding its paws before lowering its bored head onto them. An Alpha.

There were seven in total, including the Alpha – that could apparently turn into a wolf. That left six betas…or so I thought. Because as they closed in around us, their eyes all started to glow. And all of them were red.

Four of them drew their claws. Two boys that looked identical – twins – a large brute of a man and another woman with long straight hair, who also had claws on her feet as well. Those four stood in a crescent around us, leaving us only one way to go. Which lead us right into the woman who'd spoken to us and a man who was now stood next to her with tinted red glasses. As for the wolf, it hardly seemed interested in any of this, still sat by the tree licking it's paws.

"Very well done, Maria," congratulated the man – in a British accent – next to the woman who'd spoken. Maria, I presumed.

"It wasn't exactly hard," said the modest Maria, grinning away at me and my fellow Betas. She then began to step towards us, to which we took a step back, prompting her to chuckle as she stared right at me. "So this is the Hale Pack's tracker, huh?" She looked me up and down. "Not every impressive. She didn't even sense us coming."

"She is newly turned remember," pointed out the man with the red glasses. "I'm sure with more time, she'll get a chance to improve."

Maria stood up to her full height, though still wasn't as tall as the man she was stood in front of, turning around to cock an eyebrow at him. "So what? You thinking of replacing me?"

A chuckle from the man with the red glasses. "I wouldn't dream of it my dear," he said, stepping forward before laying his hand on Maria's shoulder, smiling fondly at her. Then his head turned towards us. "Take them," he ordered, and just then I felt Erica and Boyd pulled away from me.

I turned, already screaming along with Erica and Boyd. The twins had Erica, each holding an arm of hers, while Boyd had been pulled right off his feet and slammed into the ground by the brute. Said brute then delivered a jaw break blow to Boyd's face, knocking him clean out. I ran to try and protect him in his unconscious state, but the woman with claws instead of hands and feet got between us, sending me back with a kick of incomparable strength.

I sailed through the air, feeling the wind leave me as I hit the forest floor, sending up a storm of leaves as I did. I pushed myself back up quickly enough, but the pain that shot out through my stomach stopped me from getting back up to my feet with any great speed.

My eyes then went to Erica, and the twins that had her. One was shoving her down, holding her with both arms while the other only had one on her. That one had his other hand raised, claws catching the light, before he swung them down into Erica's neck.

She let out a scream of pain, her eyes flashing bright yellow, before they faded and she dropped down to the ground, unconscious.

Then I was screaming, shouting her name as I tried to get to her, to save her from whatever was happening, but Maria grabbed me from behind and pushed her weight on me, forcing me down onto my belly while she sprawled herself out on top of me. "Let me go!" I shouted, which resulted in my face getting shoved into the dirt, only to be removed when I stop shouting and screaming.

"Your name's, Dylan Reyes, right? The Hale Pack's Second?" Maria's voice held that of one that already knew the answer to her own question.

I could practically feel her smile on my ear as she continued, the tips of her claws tickling the back of my neck. "We've got someone I'm sure would love to meet you." I had no idea what she was talking about, or why I was of some importance to her and this bizarre Pack.

"That's enough for now, Maria," the man with the red glasses spoke up, stepping carefully towards us. It was only when his white cane stopped in front of my face that I realised, he was blind. "We don't want to ruin all the surprises quite yet, do we?"

Trying to look up at the man speaking, I found I couldn't crane my neck far enough, so I had to settle for looking at his hands, folded at the top of his walking stick. "Who are you people?" I groaned out from beneath Maria's weight.

"We, are the Alpha Pack," the man answered. "And you are going to help us add a new member to our ranks." Before I could ask anything more, I felt Maria's claws pierce my neck. My head shot up right, my eyes glowing as I gasped. I could feel her inside me, inside my mind. Searching through all my thoughts and memories while also pushing me out, towards the blackness. I tried to fight her off, but I was already falling, everything else fading into one single light that then blinked out, leaving me alone in the darkness. The last place I wanted to be.


	32. AN

If you've stuck with me to the end of this story, then I thank you with all my heart. And a special thanks to surfingbandit, aandm20, Laurenalyse24, RandomBlondeChick and all the guests who left a review throughout the journey. It was a gift to read each of your kind words!

As for the sequel, I hoping it'll be coming out soon, but I can't make any promises. In fact I've already restarted writing it three times! Though on this attempt currently, I have gotten further than ever before, which is promising.

The thing is, I finished this story completely before I began publishing it and I want to do the same with the sequel. So it could be a few months before the next story starts coming out, but when it does, know that you'll be getting a complete story by the end, hopefully without any delays.

Well, that's all for now. I'll update this story with news of the sequel down the road. Until then, I wish you all the best, and thanks again. If you want to PM about anything relating to this story, don't hesitate.

Bye, for now!


End file.
